


Black Friday

by gyllene76



Category: True Blood
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-03
Updated: 2015-09-30
Packaged: 2018-02-16 00:41:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 46,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2249478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gyllene76/pseuds/gyllene76
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takes place the day after Thanksgiving and the series finale.  HEA guaranteed.   This is my fix to True Blood’s Season 7 fuckery.</p>
<p>Special thanks to Meridian for telling me to write this story and helping me with my plot ideas!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

## 

 

Sookie had been shopping all day with Nicole, Sam's wife and mother of his two children. They hadn't gotten up as early as some of the crazy, fanatic Black Friday shoppers, but it was early enough that now it was just a little after five in the evening. Sookie was dead tired from the activities of the day, and being almost eight months pregnant.

After dropping off Nicole at the hotel where she and Sam were staying at in Shreveport, Sookie left with a tired smile and a wave heading back to Bon Temps.  

Although Sookie was happy to get away from the house with a friend for the day, she was ready to go back to her normal life and put up her feet. Maybe, just maybe, she could convince Dirk to rub her feet. After all, she'd been shopping for deals to finish buying the last items they needed for the baby, and to hopefully buy him a Christmas present he'd like since they hadn't been getting along too well lately. She was sure all that would change when the baby was born.

At least she hoped it changed.

As she listened to the radio, Sookie thought about how they had met and their relationship over the last few years. It had been about five months after Bill and Alcide had died that Arlene and Jessica convinced Sookie that she needed a night out.  They went dancing at a club in Monroe where she met Dirk.  He had asked her for her phone number and called her the next day.  Sookie explained to him that she wasn’t ready to be in a relationship of any kind at the moment, but they could be friends.  Dirk was agreeable to being friends and waited patiently until Sooie was ready to date.  By that time, Dirk had already fallen in love with Sookie and was set to make her love him too.

Although she loved her husband, she wasn't in love with him and she never was, a fact of which  her husband was well aware. It had caused a great deal of tension throughout their relationship. He knew how she felt when he proposed and they had had a long talk about how she might never be able to give him her heart. Dirk was okay with it then, but as the years passed he became more resentful that she couldn't let go of a certain tall, blond vampire whom she hadn't seen in years.

The only vampires in their lives were Jessica, James, and Willa. Both Sookie and Dirk knew why Willa had decided to become friends with Sookie. They had never really been friends and out of nowhere, Willa started showing up around once a week. The first time that Willa had come by Dirk had been out with his friends, and since they’d never been close, Sookie decided to ask as nicely as she could why Willa had shown up on her doorstep almost eight months after the last time she saw her at Bill’s house; the night Eric had arrived infected with Hep V and called her to him.  Willa had liked the fact that Sookie had come right out and asked her what she was thinking.  She decided that she’d be honest with the human who had captured her Maker’s heart and let her know that she had been sent to look out for her and to let Eric know if Sookie needed anything.  They had both appreciated each other’s honesty and a genuine friendship had started that night.

Once Dirk figured out that Willa was there to keep an eye out on his wife and that it had given her even the tiniest bit of hope that Eric fucking Northman might still care, his resentment started to build every time the young vampire paid a visit.

The longer Sookie and Dirk were together, the easier it became for her to start capturing his thoughts.  She knew that her husband got angrier and more resentful with each of Willa's visits, but she just couldn't bring herself to ask Willa to stop visiting or looking in on her. Whichever way you wanted to see it, she'd never had many friends, so it was nice having her in her life.

So yes, she probably wasn't going to be getting a foot rub or any type of pleasant greeting from her husband when she got home. He didn't care that Nicole wanted to shop in Shreveport so that she could stick close to her family. They had a new baby and it was the first time she had left him since he was born. Sam was a great dad to their children, but she was a mom and she still worried. Nor did Dirk care that the best deals, meaning spending less money, something they didn't have a great deal of these days now that she had quit working once her belly had started to knock customers drinks into their laps and food onto the floor, were in Shreveport. It didn't matter that it was daylight and there was no possible way for Sookie to run into any vampires, let alone the one she had been missing over the years. Sookie was pretty sure that she would be met with a bad attitude and a husband wanting his dinner on the table as soon as possible. Maybe I should pick up a pizza or three for dinner, she mused. It still amazed her how much men could eat and not gain a pound, especially Weres.

It wasn't long after picking up a few pizzas that Sookie was pulling up to her house. Yes, she still lived in her family's homestead. The sun had fully set now and with a new moon, it was pitch dark outside.  Sookie thought it was strange that he hadn't turned on the security lights for her or a single light in the house. Slowly getting out of the car with her burgeoning belly and the pizzas she had picked up, Sookie was startled when Willa flashed in front of her.

"Oh my God, Willa, are you trying to give me a heart attack or get me to go into labor?"

"I'm so sorry, Sookie. I didn't mean to scare you. It’s just…”

"What are you doing here? You were only here last night," Sookie whispered, hoping to not alert her husband to Willa's presence.

"I stayed with Jessica and Hoyt last night, and came over to see how you're doing before I headed back to Shreveport," Willa said as she looked around wildly.

"As you can see, I'm fine, but extremely tired and need to get into the house before our dinner has gone cold.  So if you'll excuse me, I'll probably see you next week," Sookie said in half statement and half question.

Willa looked around nervously, unsure of how she was going to break the news to Sookie.

"What's gotten into you? You're acting strangely. Did Dirk say something mean to you? If he did, I'm really sorry,” Sookie said sadly as she shook her head.

"I don't know how to say this to you. Sookie, I'm so sorry," Willa said as blood tears filled her eyes. She was sad for her friend and worried how she might react.

"I'm sure whatever it is everything will be fine," Sookie said as she made her way to the front door.

"Sookie, Dirk's dead. You don't want to go in there. It's... bad. I've never seen anything like it and that's saying a lot.”

Being turned and then almost immediately being thrown in vamp camp, and then the two years where Hep V vampires had turned everyone's lives into a nightmare, Willa had thought she'd seen just about everything until she walked into Sookie's house tonight after smelling blood.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

“Wha… No,” Sookie said, shaking her head frantically. “You’re wrong!”

Willa slowly moved in front of her friend when she noticed her body began to shake.

“I wish I was but…” Willa looked around again on alert. “I’m so sorry, Sookie.”

“You’re sure?” Sookie asked as she dropped her forgotten pizza boxes and wrapped her hands around her pregnant belly. Sookie knew that Willa would never lie to her about such a thing, no matter how much she and Dirk didn’t get along.

“I am, sweetheart,” Willa responded sadly to her friend. She wrapped an arm around her waist to help as Sookie slowly sank into the grass.

“It’s not possible.  I just saw him this morning and… I brought pizza home for dinner, his favorite, and I have a car full of baby items that I bought today.  It’s just not possible.  You must be wrong. Maybe he’s at a friend’s house. Or…”

“Sookie, I’m not mistaken,” Willa said with worry.

“Why would someone kill him?  We’ve been living a quiet peaceful life these last few years. As far as I know, he doesn’t have any enemies.  Could it have been someone after me and instead they killed Dirk?  Could it…”  Sookie trailed off trying to think of who would want her hurt.

“I don’t know,” Willa said as she tried to subtly scan their surroundings.

“Am I in danger?” Sookie whispered as fear for herself and her unborn baby consumed her. Even in her shocked state, she had noticed how Willa’s eyes kept searching along her property.

“I don’t want you to unnecessarily worry yourself, especially being pregnant, but there are two different type of scents in the house and neither of them are human. I believe someone came to kill your husband and quite possibly you,” Willa explained and looked around again. “When you arrived I was trying to track the scents but two of them ended abruptly in the cemetery and the one that smelled of Were ended in your driveway, most likely from getting in and out of a car.”

Sookie’s body began to tremble after hearing that two of the scents had disappeared in the cemetery and Willa didn’t know what to do. She didn’t want to take her friend inside with her husband lying dead on the floor just inside the living room.

“I don’t know what to do, Sookie. Inside is safer, but you don’t need to see what’s in there. I’d go and quickly clean up, but I can’t leave you out here where there’s possible danger. I’m not that good of a strategist. I’m…”

Willa’s voice cut out as they heard an engine revving and tires squealing in the distance.

Sookie struggled to push herself off the ground, but her center of gravity was not what it used to be. Just as she got herself upright, a black SUV came flying down her driveway.

“Run!” Sookie yelled as she grabbed her belly and started to run as fast as she could being seven and a half months pregnant, which was not fast at all.

She hadn’t made it far when she was caught in the grasp of big, strong, unwielding arms.

Sookie screamed and fought with all her might, but her struggle was useless as the arms tightened around her and lifted her off the ground.

Tears streaked down her cheeks as she realized this was it. The end of her life and the life of her unborn child. She had so many regrets and now she’d never live to correct them. Eric’s face drifted through her thoughts, his sweet amnesiac smile and his soulful eyes.  How she wished she hadn’t rejected him time and time again over the years.  Why had she been so stupid and begged him to cure Bill?  Why had she wasted all these years? She should have gone to him in Shreveport but she was too afraid.  A sob escaped as she kicked and tried to squirm her way out her attacker’s grasp.

The attacker’s grip faltered for a moment as Sookie took the advantage and tried to make her way as quickly as she could into her home.  If she could only make it to her shotgun!  Once again she was grabbed, only this time it was by her upper arms and she was whirled around into a tall figure dressed in all black.  Sookie tried to free her arms, but it was no use, she wasn’t going to get away.

Sookie stopped moving as she noticed her attacker was slowly bending down to face her.  What she saw next shocked her to her very core.

Eric.

She must have been hallucinating if she thought Eric was her attacker.  Maybe she was already dead and had gone to Heaven, or was this her Hell; to be able to see Eric, the man she had never stopped loving, but had never really gotten a chance with by her own doing, and knowing she’d never feel his cool strong arms around her again, nor look into his cerulean eyes, see his smile, or feel his cool breath as he whispered into her ear.

This must be her Hell.

“Sookie, I need you to take a breath,” Eric’s smooth voice echoed through her thoughts.   His body had relaxed and his hands were only lightly holding onto her arms now.

“I know it’s been awhile since we last saw each other, but do you really think I’d hurt you?” Eric spoke, his words laced with hurt. Sookie could see in his eyes and hear in his tone that she had wounded him by her actions, bringing her only slightly out of her stupor.

“Eric?” Sookie asked after blinking a few times.  She was still unable to believe that this night was real, that Eric was standing right in front of her with a hurt, but also worried look on his face.

“Yes,” he replied as he let go of her arms and sat her down on the porch swing.

“Are you really here?”  Sookie asked with confusion as she looked over at Eric.  She couldn’t believe that he was really here after all the times that she had wished he would show up one day and want her back in his life.

Eric looked out into the yard to his youngest progeny. “Did she hit her head?  I thought you said that she knew I’ve been looking out for her.”

“She’s known all along why I came that first time.  Maybe since we’ve become friends she thought I was  _only_  coming for myself, but I think she’s in shock. It’s a lot to take in,” Willa responded as she made her way up to the front porch.

Looking down, Eric noticed that Sookie had scooted closer with one hand on her swollen belly and the other only an inch from his leg. It was almost as if she wanted to touch him but was afraid.

Was she afraid of him now?

The thought tore through him, causing an ache to form in his long dead heart. He would rather die the True Death than cause her an ounce of pain.

Picking up her hand that was close to his leg, he held it in between both of his as he turned to talk to her, rubbing his thumb soothingly over the tops of fingers.

“Sookie, I want you to know that I’d never hurt you,” he said, trying to hide how much it pained him for her to think that of him.

Taking her hand off her belly, Sookie reached up and touched Eric’s cheek.

“You’re really here,” Sookie stated as he leaned his face into her palm.

He wanted to close his eyes and relish in the warmth of her hand. It had been too long and he had forgotten how one touch from her could soothe and make him burn at the same time.

“Of course. Where else would I be?”

“Shreveport,” Sookie stated as she looked up at him, finally starting to believe that he was really there.

“You needed me,” he replied, but continued when he saw her dumbfounded expression. “I’ll always come when you need me.  I came as soon as I could.”

“I’ve needed you for a long time,” she said quietly. If he hadn’t been a vampire sitting right next to her, he wouldn’t have heard it.

Eric wanted to hope that she really meant it, but it was obvious that she was still in shock.

Instead of responding and getting his hopes crushed, he rose from the swing and faced his Childe.

“What can you tell me?” He asked as he scanned the property. Something he should have done the second he arrived if he had been thinking clearly, but when he was around the woman who had ensnared his unbeating heart all those years ago, all rational thought left him.

As Willa explained, Eric used his acute sense of smell to see if he could identify who had killed the mangy Were and was now most likely after Sookie.

One Were and two full blooded fairies. Shit.

Eric realized he and Sookie had never really talked about when she had gone to the Fae realm and if she would be in anyfuture danger. Hell, maybe she didn’t know. Sookie’s self-preservation skills had always needed more work.

“Sookie,” Eric said as he kneeled down in front of her. “I’m going to go inside for a moment to look around and see if I can figure out who’s behind killing your…  _husband_.”

It took almost everything within him to utter that one word without showing his distaste for with whom she had chosen to spend the rest of her  _normal_  life.

“Willa’s right here,” Holding out his arm, Willa came forward with a tentative smile on her face. “If you’re agreeable, I’d like to take you somewhere else for the night just to be on the safe side.”

“I don’t have anywhere else to go,” Sookie mumbled looking down at the ground.

“You’ll come home with me… unless you’re uncomfortable being around me.  If that’s the case, I’m sure Willa would let you stay with her.”

“You’re more than welcome to stay with me,” Willa replied, placing her hand over Sookie’s.

“I don’t want to be an inconvenience to either one of you.”

“I wouldn’t have offered if it were.  Please come with me,” Eric’s eyes begged her.  “I need to know that you’re safe.”

“If you’re sure,” Sookie nodded.

“I’m positive.  Stay here with Willa and call out if you need me or spot anything suspicious.  This shouldn’t take long,” Eric said before he quickly made his way into the house.  He was surprised that he didn’t need an invitation but he’d have to ask Sookie about it later.

Willa stood on guard as she looked out to the cemetery.  She hoped that no more danger would come tonight since shewasn’t sure if her friend could take any more stress.  All they needed was for Sookie’s blood pressure to spike or for her to go into early labor.

“Do you think I made the right decision?” Sookie asked.

“What decision would that be?” Willa replied.  There were plenty of decisions that Sookie had made that were bad, but she didn’t need to hear anything about them tonight.

“About leaving with Eric,” Sookie whispered.

“I think it’s one of the best decisions you’ve made in a long time,” Willa said as she turned toward her so that her friend could see the truth on her face.

“I know I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but I’m going to try and do better.  My baby deserves better,” Sookie said as she placed her hands of belly protectively.

For the remainder of time that Eric was inside searching the house, the two women stayed quiet as they contemplated what had happened. They watched as Eric quickly strode out of the house, walked over to Sookie, and held out his hand.

“We really should get going.  Are you ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Sookie replied as she took his hand and let him help her stand.

Eric kept hold of her hand as he walked her to his SUV that he had parked next to Sookie’s same old piece of shit car she’d had since he met her.  He helped her get up into the SUV before he placed the seatbelt around her swollen stomach.

He hated to think of her carrying another man’s child. It didn’t matter that it was physically impossible for her to carry his child, he wanted it to be his.  He shook his head slightly, he couldn’t think about such things now. He needed to protect her, not bejealous.

“I’ll be back in just a moment.  I need to speak to Willa.  Will you be alright here?” He asked as he was getting ready to close the door.

“I’ll be fine.  Thank you, Eric.”

“No need to thank me.”

“No, thank you for everything.  I’ve done so much to hurt you and I don’t deserve your help,” Sookie said with a tentative smile.

“Deserved or not, I’d do anything for you, Sookie. You should know that by now,” Eric said as he shut the door and walked over to Willa.


	3. Chapter 3

“Can you pack Sookie a bag with anything that she’ll need for the next few days?” Eric asked his youngest progeny. It had been a bumpy road for the both of them with Eric actually being the instigator in repairing his broken relationship with Willa.

“I also need you to stay here until the cleaners arrive. We can’t have law enforcement involved, especially where fairies are concerned.  They should not be long. They’re paid to be quick and meticulous.”

“Whatever’s needed. Sookie doesn’t need any more stress,” Willa replied as she watched her friend fidget in the front seat of the car.

Eric knew he had been a shitty Maker to Willa and had turned her for all the wrong reasons. At the time he reasoned with himself that Willa had wanted to be turned.  No one could have predicted that Nora would become infected, setting off events that became the catalyst for driving Eric away.  Never in his one-thousand-years had he been so careless with his well-being, but, at the time, he thought he had nothing left to live for.

Godric was dead.

He’d finally gotten his revenge for his human family.

Nora had just died.

Sookie had once again rejected him and it seemed as if he’d never get the one woman he wanted.

He was careless and ended up becoming infected with Hep V.  If it weren’t for Pam finding him while he was in a deep depression in France, he would have long ago met his final death.  She had given him a reason to live, revenge against Sarah Newlin, but when he saw Sookie’s tears at seeing him infected, he knew he  _had_  to live.  He couldn’t die and cause her pain.  He needed to live and protect her.  This was Sookie he was talking about, who was  _always_  in some sort of trouble.

Needless to say that after being cured from Hep V, Eric knew that he needed to change his life.  He needed to be a better Maker to his youngest Childe. She deserved it, although from what he could tell at the time, she had done an incredible job in her new life without a Maker to guide her.

Once Willa no longer resented him for leaving when she was a newborn, Eric had requested a favor that he hoped she would accept.  He needed someone to look out for Sookie and he didn’t think she would appreciate it being him.  He had stayed away and relied on Willa to provide him with updates on her well-being and her needs.

Willa nodded her head as she looked up to the vampire who had become very special to her in the last few years.  She could clearly see the worry that creased around his eyes as he looked back at the car that held her friend and his…

“Eric, what exactly is she to you?” Willa asked upon seeing the intense emotions fleeting across her Maker’s face. Maybe more was going on than just her Maker protecting the telepath.

“Mine.” He said the word firmly, nodded, then returned to his SUV.

OoOOO

Eric and Sookie had both been quiet as they made their way out of Bon Temps and onto the highway. It was Eric who broke the silence as they neared his safe house that was closer to Bon Temps than Shreveport.

“Willa’s going to pack a bag for you and bring it to Fangtasia for us to pick up tomorrow night.”

“Can she bring it to wherever you’re taking me?  Where is it we’re going?” Sookie asked as she held onto the door handle. She had never been in a car with Eric driving before and wasn’t sure if she’d want to again. He certainly didn’t handle a car like Bill had; like an eighty-year-old woman.

“I’m taking you to a safe house that no one else knows about and I’d prefer to keep it that way,” he replied as he glanced at her.

“Not even Pam?” Sookie asked. She couldn’t believe that he’d hide anything from her.

According to Willa, Eric and Pam had become closer than ever with the reopening of Fangtasia and New Blood.  If she was honest with herself she was jealous of their relationship, but now wasn’t the time to think about such things. Someone had killed her husband and was most likely after her. If it wasn’t for Eric, she didn’t know what she’d do or where she’d go. Although she and Willa had become friends, she’d never been to her house and wasn’t about to go only because Eric had mentioned it. Sookie knew how much trust was involved for a vampire to reveal their resting place and didn’t want to be there if Willa wasn’t ready to bestow that trust upon her yet or ever.  That’s why she was shocked that Eric was taking her to one of his safe houses.

“Not even Pam,” Eric said breaking her out of her thoughts. The shock must have been evident on her face as Eric asked, “Why are you surprised?”

“It’s nothing,” Sookie replied, and then looked out the window.

Eric decided not to push her right  _now_ , but he wondered what he’d done that had caused this riff between them. They hadn’t seen each other for over four years and he’d only stayed away because that’s what he thought she wanted but they’d parted on pleasant terms, or so he thought.

If she was uncomfortable and no longer wanted to be in his company then he’d keep her safe and step back out of her life even if it broke his heart to let her go once again. Maybe their time had come and gone, and he was meant to spend the rest of his existence alone.

Eric let out a sigh and almost chuckled to himself.  Why was it when he was around this particular woman he would do many human things such as sigh and have all these unwanted human emotions? He hadn’t stopped caring or loving Sookie over the years. He thought about her the moment he rose in the evening and many more times than he’d care to admit in a single night. Somehow being in her presence once again had magnified each emotion by a hundred and he was hoping they wouldn’t prevent him from keeping her safe.

Not another word was spoken until they pulled up to the house.

[ ](http://i1.wp.com/www.gyllene76.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/10660443_10202893834970027_1641425877_n.jpg)

Sookie’s eyes widened after catching a glimpse of Eric’s safe house. This wasn’t even where he lived. She couldn’t imagine how grand it must be.

“If this is your safe house, I can’t imagine what your regular house must be like. Maybe one day you’ll show it to me,” Sookie said before she could even stop herself. She was even more embarrassed when she caught the odd look on Eric’s face. Maybe he didn’t even want her here, let alone the place he called home. If that was the case, she’d figure out someplace else to go. As it was, Sookie hated that she was putting his life in danger once again.

Eric vamped out of the car and was at Sookie’s side, holding his hand out for her to take. He knew it might be difficult for her to get out of the SUV but thought it was better than his corvette.

After helping Sookie from the car, he escorted her to the front door. Keeping her hand in the crook of his elbow while her other hand was carefully cradling her belly, he flipped the doorbell open, revealing a secret keypad where he scanned his fingerprint and put in the eighteen-digit passcode. He decided after putting in his code he’d have to make Sookie’s shorter if she decided to stay here.

Pushing the door open, he held his arm out letting Sookie enter.

Sookie walked inside the entry and looked around as the lights came on with each step that she took. She turned around to ask Eric about the lights and noticed that he was still outside by the front door.

“What are you waiting for?” she asked. She was then instantly alarmed. Maybe he had sensed some sort of threat. She felt her hands start to tingle as her body became alert and ready to defend itself and the life within it until she saw an almost sheepish smile on Eric’s face.

Her body instantly calmed.  Sookie hadn’t seen that look on his face since Eric had been without his memories; a look at the time she thought she’d never see again once he got his memories back. Maybe Eric was right and he really was still her sweet amnesiac vampire, only more.

“You have to invite me in,” Eric stated quietly. He had been watching Sookie’s emotions flit across her face and was surprised by more than a couple of them.

Trust and love.

He was certain of it, but why?  Would he ever understand the woman in front of him? He didn’t think so and truthfully, where would the fun be in that?

“You have some serious explaining to do, Eric Northman,” Sookie said after a few moments of opening and closing her mouth, her hands on her hips.

Yep, she was angry. Most likely she’d be furious just as he knew she would be.

“We have much to discuss before we rest,” Eric answered.

“Won’t you please come in, Mr. Northman?”

Eric had a slight smirk on his face as he stepped inside, which only pissed Sookie off more. He quickly schooled his features before she rescinded his invitation. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to put the house in her name. Eric had only wanted a safe place for her where no Supe could get to her. If she ever found out how much he’d spent to do that very thing…  No time. They had much to discuss and for him to show her.

Turning quickly, he locked the door and set the alarm. He wouldn’t put the house on lockdown until after they had talked. He wanted to explain a few things before she panicked.

Eric was quickly by her side holding out his hand. A small smile spread across his face when he felt the warmth of her hand in his. He couldn’t remember the last time he had truly smiled or the last time he’d felt… complete? Whatever this feeling was, it felt right and he hoped it wouldn’t end after their discussion or ever, but that was too much to ask right now. Or maybe ever.

“Let me show you around quickly before we settle down to talk.

True to his word, Eric showed Sookie around. She was surprised by the decor of the house. It definitely didn’t seem like anything Eric would like and she mentioned it as they wandered through the house.

  


 

 

According to Eric, he had never spent any time there except to make sure the security system met his specifications. The furniture was already here when he bought the house. The only items he had added were to the secure downstairs area. It was equipped with a wall of monitors and computers, and two fully furnished bedrooms and bathrooms. After a thorough examination where Eric found everything as he wanted it, he signed the deed over to Sookie.

That had been almost three years ago.

Once a month a maid came to clean so that if Sookie ever had need for the house, it would be ready for her. There was even an expensive coffee maker that she’d be lucky if she ever figured out how to use it and some food in the pantry that would never go bad.  Sookie was astonished that Eric had done all of this.  He’d even thought of her precious coffee that she had given up while pregnant.

Once they had taken a tour of the house, Eric brought them back into the living room upstairs.  Sookie placed herself on the ugly, but comfortable couch and Eric sat down in an overly flowered chair across from her.

**[ ](http://i1.wp.com/www.gyllene76.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/bf6.jpg) **

They stared at each other for a moment before Sookie’s patience started to wear thin.  She crossed her arms over her chest before she spoke.

“How about you start with why this house is in my name?” Sookie asked, now agitated.

“You know why. I wanted you to have a safe place to go in case you ever needed it.” Eric answered, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.

“You could have put it into anyone’s name who isn’t a vampire.  So why me?”

“You can’t be glamoured into letting anyone in,” he replied only to be met with an annoyed look.  “Because this house is for you. For you to be safe.  I couldn’t risk your safety to someone who could be glamoured,” Eric said heatedly. He stood from his chair and started to pace.

Why did she have to be this way? Couldn’t she just be grateful that he had the forethought to prepare a house for her?  No! Of course not. This was Sookie Stackhouse or Johnson,  whatever the hell her name was. He finally stopped pacing after a few minutes and stood by the fireplace.

“Eric,” Sookie called to him with worry.  He never lost control like he just had and that worried her. She put her hands down and struggled to raise herself from the couch.  She kept sinking down into it from the extra soft cushions and her screwy center of gravity.

Eric turned toward Sookie and upon seeing her struggle to get up and the worry he heard in her voice, he quickly put himself in front of Sookie causing her to fall back onto the couch.

“Sit… please.  I don’t want you to strain yourself,” Eric said as he looked down at her with confusion in his eyes.

“Then stop towering over me and sit down here,” Sookie said as she patted the cushion next to her.

“You’re sure?” Eric asked with a strange look on his face that Sookie couldn’t interpret.

“You don’t have to sit next to me if you don’t want to,” Sookie replied as she looked up at him, “but I’d like you to.”

Eric promptly sat down on the offered cushion turning his body toward hers. Once again, they took each other in from head to toe.

Sookie noticed that although Eric hadn’t aged over the last four years because he was a vampire, she could see the weariness in his eyes from having lived for so long. She also noticed that once his gaze had landed on her stomach, it hadn’t left.

“I know I’m big, but there’s just a baby in there,” Sookie stated as she rested her hands on her stomach. Eric’s only response was to nod his head. Did he have some weird thing about pregnant women? “Does my being pregnant bother you?” She asked quietly.

“No,” he said shaking his head in answer and to get rid of his thoughts. “I’m sorry. It seems I’m the one making you uncomfortable.”

“It’s alright. I thought maybe you didn’t like pregnant women or to be around them,” she said with a shrug. “Something like that.”

“I have to say the last time I was around a pregnant woman, it was my mother when she was pregnant with my baby sister, but I’m… indifferent to pregnant women.”

He couldn’t say that he didn’t care if any woman was pregnant except for her and that she was carrying another man’s child. A mangy Were at that.

“Are you happy?” he asked with a gesture toward her swollen belly. He was unsure if she was happy or not, but she had never looked more beautiful. She was glowing more now than she ever had in his eyes. She’d always had a slight glow about her as if she was a star herself but now, it was like she was his own personal sun.

“I am,” was her simple reply.

“Good, it’s what I’ve always wanted for you.”

“I want the same thing for you,” Sookie answered back.

Eric gave a slight nod to show he heard her. Inside, his unbeating heart ached with the thought that she wanted him happy, but she wouldn’t be the one to see it.  He knew he’d never be truly happy without her.

“Eric, you don’t look happy. I thought with the huge success of New Blood and Fangtasia, you’d be happy.”

Eric shrugged his shoulders, “It’s impossible to be truly happy all of the time, especially when you’ve lived as long as I have.”

“When was the last time you were truly happy?” Sookie asked unsure if she really wanted the answer. She had never asked Willa about his personal life over the years and had only seen him on the TV a few times doing his horrible car salesman like ads for New Blood. Although she had assumed he’d moved on to bigger and better things, she didn’t need it confirmed.

“When I stayed with you while I was cursed,” Eric replied.

She looked into his eyes and could see that he was telling the truth. It had taken her awhile to be able to read him over the years, but she finally realized how expressive Eric’s eyes were compared to his stoic face.

“Really? But it was so long ago.”

“Not really. In over a thousand years, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been truly happy. So in comparison it’s not been that long to me.”

There was no way he was going to tell her that those had been the longest years of his existence, especially now when he could see that tears were about ready to spill down her cheeks.

“I was happy then too,” Sookie told him with a sniff.

“Then why didn’t you choose me, choose us?” Eric asked, his heartbreak written all over his face.

“I was so scared and stupid back then,” she answered, shaking her head. “I was afraid that the real _you_ , the thousand year old vampire, Sheriff of Area Five, Viking Sex God, who could have anyone in the world he wants, the man who had his memories back, wouldn’t want me for long. I also knew that if I gave my entire heart over to you and you got tired of me, I wouldn’t have been able to get over you.”

“I told  _you_  I loved you, that I was  _still_  the same man who had just spent a week with you, loving you. Do you know how many people I’ve said those words to in  _all_  of my existence? I would never have proclaimed my love for you if it wasn’t true!” He stated furiously, his voice rising with every word.

Sookie stared at the angry vampire before her. His fangs had snapped down and he looked like he was about ready to get up and pace some more.

“I’m sorry, Eric,” Sookie finally replied as she reached out for his hand. “If I could do it all over again; I’d choose you.”  She was surprised when he laced their fingers together.

“I could feel your heartbreak and confusion that night, but I thought if I gave you a little time, you’d realize your feelings for me. I couldn’t understand how you could love Bill again after all that he’d done to you.”

“At the time I didn’t know either. I just woke up and loved him again. It was just like that, but now I know differently. When the witch took you, I was shot in the stomach. I don’t know if you knew that or not.”

By the mixture between anger and regret on his face, he definitely didn’t know.  Sookie decided to continue and try to explain what she’d learned over the years.

“Alcide found me.” Sookie stopped for a moment when she thought she heard a low growl coming from Eric, but decided to carry on. “He carried me to my house and Bill fed me his blood while I was unconscious. When I woke up, I was worried about you and knew that I loved you, but also loved Bill. It had me so confused and there was so much going on at the time, I didn’t have time to question where these feelings were coming from. A couple of years ago, I finally figured out with the help of James, Lafayette’s vampire boyfriend, that it was Bill’s blood that made me think I loved him. He had given me blood just a couple of days before you had come back to Louisiana and once again, my feelings changed for him making me think that I loved him. Some night, and it doesn’t have to be tonight, I’d like for you to explain to me why your blood never tried to manipulate me into feeling false feelings for you.”

“That’s simple. It was never my intention when I gave you my blood to manipulate you in any way,” Eric answered truthfully.

“Even in Dallas?” Sookie asked skeptically.

Eric let out a light chuckle, “Even in Dallas. At the time, I had no idea that Compton was keeping you in the dark about vampires and their ways. I assumed you knew that eventually the silver would leave my body, but I was very happy to get my blood into you.”

“Why if not to manipulate me?” Sookie asked finding this hard to believe, but if she went by what she could read in his eyes, she knew he was telling her the truth.

“I didn’t understand it at the time, all I knew was that I hated that I couldn’t find you if you were hurt or in trouble. What could have happened to you in that church if Godric…”  Eric paused and she could see him swallow before he continued. “I liked knowing that I could find you if you were in trouble.  Speaking of blood, before you go to sleep I’d like it if you’d take a couple of drops of my blood in case anything happens during the day or if I’m not with you.”

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” Sookie said looking down at her pregnant belly.

“It won’t hurt the baby. It might make him or her a little stronger, but nothing else.  It’s only a couple of drops.  Nothing more,” Eric explained.

“Can I think about it?” Sookie asked. She was unsure if she wanted vampire blood in her even if she knew that his blood wouldn’t manipulate her.

“Of course,” Eric said with heat in his voice.  “I would never force you to take my blood.”

“I know and thank you for that,” she replied gratefully.

“For your security, I’d like you to stay downstairs until I’m up for the night.  The whole downstairs area is what I think you’d call a panic room.  Even if the house were to catch on fire, you’d be safe. In addition, the walls are all lined with iron, mercury, and silver to keep out vampires, witches, Weres, and fairies. There is also a lockdown mode that can be used for the whole house, upstairs, or downstairs.  It will bring down silver shutters with iron in them down over the windows, and six inch thick partitions that go over the doors.  The door to get downstairs is a foot thick with iron, silver, and mercury in it.  No one should be able to get in with the house on lockdown and no one should be able to find us here since no one knows of this house.”

Sookie’s eyes grew bigger and bigger as Eric explained all of the security measures that he had put into place for her.  To say that she was astounded was an understatement.  She couldn’t believe he had done all of this for her when it seemed as if he didn’t want her in his life anymore.  Once again, tears welled up in her eyes with gratitude for going out of his way to do this for her, and because once this was over she was afraid that she wouldn’t see him again unless it was to keep her out of trouble.

“Don’t cry,” Eric pleaded with her.  “I know you think it’s too much, but I did it for your safety.  Please don’t,” he pleaded once more when a lone tear started down her cheek.  “I hate seeing you cry.”

“I’m sorry.  It’s just all of this,” Sookie said and gestured toward the room.  “You did this for me and…  you should know that pregnant woman are highly emotional and can cry at the drop of a hat.  You might want to take that into consideration before you want me to stay here.”

“Crying or not, I want you here.  How about we go downstairs and you can take a nice hot shower to help you relax?  Once you’re done, we can continue talking,” Eric said gently as he took in the woman next to him and realized she might need to take a little break.


	4. Chapter 4

While Sookie was in the shower, Eric decided it was time to lock down the house and to get her a change of clothes. Although he bought the house to be a safe haven for Sookie, Eric had clothes in one of the bedrooms downstairs for himself.  In addition, there were clothes for Sookie in the opposite bedroom that were unlikely to fit her during her pregnancy.  Instead of trying to see if the clothes would fit her now-expanded frame and the possibility of them not only fitting, but bringing on a fresh round of tears, Eric made an executive decision for her to wear one his t-shirts and a pair of boxer shorts.

Eric knocked lightly on the door before he made his way into the now steamy bathroom.

“I brought you something to wear,” he said as he set the clothing on the counter by the sink.

Sookie let out a small shriek before she peaked out of the shower door with her hands clutching her chest.

“Cheese and rice, Eric! You about gave me a heart attack.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought you heard me knocking. Your clothes are right here,” he said as he patted the mentioned clothing. “I’ve locked down the house, and will wait out here for you.”

“Thank you, Eric,” Sookie replied. They both knew the thank you was for more than just the clothing he had brought for her. Much more.

“Any time, Sookie,” he replied, eyes blazing. “Any time.”

Sookie took her time in the hot shower as she tried to wash away the stress of the night. If it was possible she’d try to wash away the unhappiness of the last few years, but there wasn’t enough hot water in all of Louisiana to accomplish that feat.

After being in the shower for almost an hour, Sookie stepped out and was surprised to find a hairbrush, toothbrush, toothpaste, and even some lotion waiting for her next to the clothes Eric had brought her. She quickly ran the brush through her hair before brushing her teeth, and slathering the lotion all over her body to prevent stretch marks.

If Eric hadn’t heard Sookie’s movements from behind the closed door, he might have barged in there to see if she was okay. To say he was worried about her would be an understatement. He was slightly mollified by the thought that with the small amount of blood she would hopefully take before he slipped into his daytime rest, he’d be able to feel her.

After his blood had worn off in what seemed now like forever ago and he could no longer feel her life force within him was when his downward spiral began. Eric made a phone call to make sure that Sookie was still alive, and then decided to travel the world with reckless abandon.

He wondered if he’d go back to those same ways once his blood in her wore off again. No.  She had been so worried about him when he came back infected. He couldn’t do that to her even if he could become infected again. He would stay here andwatch out for her and the child she was carrying until the day they died.  After her descendants were no more, he’d reassess if he was willing to live in a world without the woman he loved or her family.

When Sookie finally stepped out of the bathroom, he wasn’t prepared for how happy it made him to see her in his clothes, even if it was only his boxers and t-shirt.

“What are you smiling at?”

“You,” he smirked.

“What about me?” She asked and looked down at herself. “What’s wrong with me?”

“There’s nothing wrong with you,” he replied, his smirk still remaining.

“Then what is it?” She asked frustrated at his evasive answers.

“I was ill prepared with how much I like seeing you wear my clothes.”

“Stop with the fake flattery, Eric. I’m as big as a whale and I’m only going to get bigger.”

“Sookie, I promise you that I will never lie to you again and you’re more beautiful now than ever.”

Sookie blushed and looked down at her bare feet for a moment before mumbling, “You’re the only one who thinks so.”

“Who are you going to listen to? The idiots that reside in your town or me who has centuries of experience with beauty?”

“It’s easier to believe the bad things,” she stated quietly.

“We’ll have to change that while you’re here.  Why don’t we go out and sit on the sofa to finish our talk?”

“I’d like that,” she replied and started to follow him out of the room.

As she reached the door, Sookie felt a sharp pain radiate through her stomach causing her steps to falter and a moan to escape.

Hearing the odd moan from Sookie, Eric turned around to see her clutching her belly and slightly hunched over. He quickly picked her up and placed her on the bed before sitting down beside her with a worried looked.

“Should I take you to the hospital? I have to say that I have a lot of knowledge, but childbearing isn’t in my repertoire. Tell me what I need to do.”

If she hadn’t been in so much pain, Sookie would have laughed at the lost look on his face. Instead, she tried to breathe and spoke through gritted teeth.

“I need you to calm down. It’s probably only Braxton Hicks contractions.  It should go away in a minute.  I need to try and relax and breathe.”

“You’re not doing a very good job,” he said as he took in her shallow breathes and tense body.

“Thanks, Captain Obvious. Now hush so I can relax.  Do you think you could get me some water?  Is there even any food or drinks down here?”

“Do you really think I’d ask you to stay down here until I rose for the night if there was nothing here to nourish yourself?”

“Eric, please,” Sookie begged.  She really wanted him to get her a drink and out of the room for a few moments.  He was not helping her relax, but it was sweet he was so worried.  Once he was out of the room, Sookie took a few deep breaths and closed her eyes as she relaxed into the bed.  She hadn’t realized Eric was back in the room until she felt the bed dip down from his weight.

“You seem to be feeling better,” Eric said quietly as he stretched out on the bed beside her, making himself comfortable.  “I put your water on the nightstand.”

“Thank you, Eric. I don’t know where I’d be right now if it weren’t for you. I’d probably be sitting in my house scared to death that whoever killed Dirk was going to come back and finish the job.  I can’t believe this is happening. My life has been so…” She couldn’t continue as the night finally caught up to her and she was wracked with sobs.

Eric swiftly moved to her side and cradled her head to his chest as she broke down.  It wasn’t until many moments later that Sookie finally calmed down enough to speak and, even then, there were a few hiccups.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she said. Her voice muffled against his chest.

“Doing what exactly?” Eric asked as he ran his fingers through her hair.

“Crying all over you about my dead husband,” she mumbled, noticing when his hand briefly paused in her hair.  “If he could see me now, he’d be furious and probably say something about how I wished he would have died sooner.”

“I doubt he’d be telling you  _that_  from the afterlife.” Eric responded as Sookie started to cry again while he rubbed her back.

_Dear Gods, here we go again with the crying. How does she not know how much it tears me up inside when even one of her tears are shed?_

“You didn’t know him,” she sniffed.

“Then please explain to me why he’d say something like that to his own wife.”

_She’s probably right about it being a bad idea to cry and talk to me about her husband. Especially if I have to hear that he would have had such thoughts._

Sookie pulled away to look up at him through wet eyelashes. “It took you all of what, twenty minutes, to ride in on your white horse and whisk me away after I found out he was dead. Now I’m in your arms as you comfort me and keep me safe.”

“I’m hardly the hero and only doing what any good friend would do in the circumstances. That still doesn’t explain why he’d think such a thing.”

Sookie’s heart broke a little more and fell to her stomach when she heard the dreaded ‘friend’ word.  She wasn’t sure if she should try to explain about her marriage or play the pregnant and tired card.

It was the soothing circles that Eric was now rubbing into her lower back that brought her guard down further and caused her to snuggle back into his chest.

She fisted his now wet shirt in her hand.

“Things weren’t that great between us.”

“All marriages go through tough times,” Eric replied. He shifted his body so that he could simultaneously rub her back and run his fingers through her hair. It seemed that they each helped calm her and he hoped this would keep her from crying again if he did both.

Sookie let out a small giggle, “Did you go to school to be a marriage counselor or something? First you talked me into hearing Bill out all those years ago and now this.”

“No, I was trying to do the right thing by you at the time.”

“And now?”

Eric let out a sigh against the top of her head. “Letting you know that it would have gotten better eventually.”

“I don’t think it would have, but thank you. Truthfully the longer we were together the worse it got.”

“He didn’t hurt you did he? I was never told of such a thing happening, or I would have …”

“I know you would have,” she interrupted. “He never hurt me. I think it was me hurting him at first that caused him to lash out. ”

“Continue… please,” he added knowing how she liked it when others used their manners.

“Are you sure you want to hear all this?” She asked hesitantly. Maybe he’d say no and she wouldn’t have to tell him that she’d never gotten over him.

“Most definitely.” The words rumbled from his chest soothing her a little more. She had forgotten how hearing his voice, no matter the situation, would calm her.

“When Dirk and I first met, I set him straight in letting him know that I was nowhere near ready to date and we could only be friends.  It was only five months after both Bill and Alcide had died and at the time, I felt like the kiss of death to any man who came near me. He was content to just be friends for a few months, and then he asked me to go to a movie with him as a date.  Although I wasn’t ready to date, I felt like I owed it to him to at least try.  That was my first mistake.  When he proposed six months later, we had a long talk about how I might never be able to give him my heart knowing that it belonged to another and most likely always would.  When I explained this to him, he told me that he was fine with it and that he hoped that someday I would love him as I did and do love the man who holds my heart.  As the years passed he became more and more resentful that I couldn’t let go of a person that I loved with my whole heart, but would never see again, no matter how much I wanted.”

“Was he so terrible that you couldn’t get over Bill?” he asked bitterly, spitting out the name he had hoped to never utter again.  How pathetic was it that after all these years he could still be jealous of that kuksugare (cocksucker).

“Bill?” Sookie asked, confused. “What are you talking about?”

Sookie pulled away and Eric instantly felt the loss of her warmth.  He wanted to pull her to him and keep her in his arms for the rest of the night, but would never force her.  How many more nights would he get with her?  Would this be the last time he held her?

“I’m talking about the man who owns your heart.  The man who you love and would never see again.”

How could she still love Bill after all this time, especially after she had learned how much his blood had manipulated her feelings.

“Eric, I wasn’t talking about Bill,” she replied with a scrunched nose.  As if she could ever love Bill after all that he had put her through.

“Alcide.”

“Is it really that hard to believe that it could be you?  That I could love you?”


	5. Chapter 5

 

 

Eric couldn’t believe what he had just heard. He rubbed his hands over his face before running one through his hair, trying to process this new information.

“I’m the one you love with your whole heart?” Eric whispered in disbelief.

“Yes,” she confirmed with a small smile. “You.”

“But why did you think you’d never see me again?” he asked, his expression puzzled. “You could have come to me at any time over the years. You knew I was still in Shreveport and you knew that I’d sent Willa to keep an eye on you.” This wasn’t making any sense whatsoever even if her previous words had given him hope.

“Once I was finally done grieving and no longer had vampire blood in my system, I could finally think straight. Months had passed, and there was no sign of you. You hadn't stopped by and had sent Willa to check up on me instead of checking up on me yourself. I figured you had finally gotten tired of me and my ways, and had moved on with your life."

Eric lay on his back with his hands behind his head as he looked up at the ceiling and listened to the tiny woman beside him.

"If you believed I no longer cared, why did you think Willa continued with her presence in Bon Temps?"

"We had become friends and you were rarely spoken of so I just thought..."

"That I had gotten over you and forgot about the one woman I've ever loved in a non-familial way,” he growled out. "I often forget how young and inexperienced you are with the world. I thought I had made my feelings for you perfectly clear. "

He scrubbed his hands over his face in exasperation and then continued. "I came to see you when I was infected believing I would die the true death. Even when I had little more strength than a human, I still helped to save your friends when I could have easily met my end doing so.”

Eric turned to look at Sookie and his hard gaze pierced into hers. ”I was determined to get you out of as much trouble as possible before I met my end. When I saw your tears at the thought of me dying, I knew then that I needed to find the cure. I never want to be the reason for your crying.”

Eric brushed away a strand of her hair and tucked it behind her ear. “Then I came back cured, and for a brief moment you were happy for me. You were even happy to see me, but then you needed to find a cure for Bill because of your guilt for infecting him."

His brows furrowed at the sight of Sookie’s unshed tears threatening to spill from her eyes. He hated that he was now the cause of her sorrow, but he needed to say these things to help her understand why he'd stayed away. Eric turned back to look at the ceiling, but took one of her hands in his.

"I understood you wanting him cured. You have such a tender heart and hate the thought of anyone dying because of you. When he wouldn't take the cure and you wouldn't talk to him, I played 'marriage counselor' and convinced you to hear his reasons. At the time, I thought you needed to hear them so you would no longer feel guilty. But maybe instead of pushing you off to Bill, I should have let you know how I still felt, or perhaps if I would have accepted your invitation into your home that night, there might have been a different outcome, but I was trying to be the better man and do what I thought was right for you at the time.

"I thought about coming to you once you were finished grieving, and when things had finally settled down with the making of New Blood as well as the reopening of Fangtasia. It seemed as if you were dating the Were. Realizing that was as close to normal as you would get since you could never be with a human, I stayed away for you to live the ‘normal life’ you had always seemed to want. I thought that's what you wanted but I decided to stay in Shreveport so that if you ever needed me or were in trouble I'd be close. I could live anywhere in the world now that the vampire hierarchy is in shambles and I no longer have a contract with this State, but I chose to remain here for the rest of your existence."

"I had no idea," Sookie cried. "I thought you had stayed for Pam."

"Where would you get that idea? I released Pam when I thought I would die by Russell's hand. She no longer needs me."

"I'd heard that you and Pam had become quite close, and thought you two were together," she said. This time it was Sookie who looked at the ceiling not wanting to see his reaction. "I thought you had moved on and were with her now."

Eric let out a booming laugh that startled Sookie and caused her and the baby to jump. He watched as she tenderly cradled her pregnant belly with love, making him yearn for the impossible.

"Pam and I haven't had a sexual relationship for almost a century. She hasn't liked men in just as long. The last 'relationship' she had was with your friend Tara. Why didn't you ask Willa? She would have told you the truth."

"Because if it was the truth...”

"It never was. Yes, Pam and I are closer than ever. She almost lost her Maker and even though she never voiced the reason she stayed, I believe she wanted to keep an eye on me to make sure I didn't do something stupid once again that would jeopardize my life."

Sookie pushed herself up into a sitting position much more quickly than normal with the shot of adrenaline that burst through her upon hearing his words.

"You wouldn't…" She couldn't say it, let alone think about Eric dying.

"Do I have plans to meet the sun tomorrow? No, and I don't plan to die anytime soon. You need me to keep you out of trouble."

"I don't want you to ever die," she choked out.

Eric sat up and pulled her onto his lap, embracing her, and trying to calm her the instant he saw her tears. His dead heart warred within him as the thought of him dying drove her to tears, yet warmed him deeply inside even though the sight of her tears hurt painfully.

"I don't want you to ever die either," he replied from the top of her head.

"It's different. You're meant to live forever and I’m meant for a human lifetime."

"Who said you were meant to live such a short amount of time? You're part fairy and they live a long time. Don't count your life short," he said as he tightened his arms around her a little more. The thought of her dying had always cut like a knife.

They stayed in each other’s embrace not caring how much time passed. For long minutes the only sounds were two heartbeats and Sookie's breathing.

"I can't believe we stayed apart from one another because we both assumed the other had moved on, but I understand why you stayed away. I never gave you any indication that I wanted you in my life and with the way I treated you, I wouldn't blame you if you gave up on me and never wanted to see me again," she admitted in a voice thick with tearful remorse.

"Shh," he soothed, knowing that he would never leave her now that he knew she wanted him. "I’m here now and I don’t plan on going anywhere, but I want you to be sure because I’m never going to let you go again once I have you. I want you to be MINE and once you’re MINE, there’s no turning back.”

“I love you, Eric,” Sookie said, turning to kiss his chest. “I’ve loved you for years and I’m right where I want to be. You need to know that I'm planning on this thing between us going slower than maybe you'd want it. No matter how much I love you, and I do truly love you with all my heart, my baby has to come first for a long time. Can you deal with that? And, Eric, I want you to be in his life, too, but I'm not sure if you want to be or how you even feel about me becoming a mother."

“A boy?” he asked in wonderment reaching out to touch her growing belly but stopped. Eric didn’t want to hurt her, but Sookie grabbed his hand and placed it on her stomach. He sat transfixed as he felt the quick fluttering of the baby’s heartbeat through her stomach.

“A boy.”

“I think you’ll make a wonderful mother. You have such a kind heart, and yet you’re fiercely protective of those you love. I promise to protect you and the child until my death. No one will ever hurt either of you on my watch.”

“Thank you, I know you will. How do you feel about being around a baby and then a child? Were you a father when you were human?”

“Much to my father’s dismay I didn’t marry and have children when I was human. Once my family was murdered, I was busy being a leader, trying to find their killer, and fighting in battles. In all of my existence, I had never thought about having or wanting a family until you became pregnant.”

“And then?” She asked nervously.

“And then I wished the impossible,” he replied with a sad smile.

The impossible?

"For me to not be pregnant?" She asked getting upset and stiffening in his embrace.

"No, dear one. I wished that the child you're carrying was mine."

"I'm sorry, Eric," she wrapped her arms around his neck hugging him tightly, and then quietly confessed into his neck, "There have been times when I wished he was yours too."

"Do not be sorry. We both know that it's an impossible wish, but I will love him as if he were my own since he is a part of you. He will be mine just as you are."

“If I’m yours does that mean you’re mine?”

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he proclaimed bringing her down to sit in between his legs and kissing the top of her head.

"We're really doing this?"

"Only if you want, but once you agree there will be no turning back."

"I want to!" She exclaimed looking over her shoulder at him. "I just can't believe how easy this was."

"Easy?" He questioned with a slight eyebrow raise.

"One simple talk about how we really felt... If we had done this years ago we could have been together all this time," she stated as tears filled her eyes once more.

"Please don't cry, älskling. We must not think of the 'what ifs' now. I'd like to think of our time apart as the time we needed to grow, to prepare ourselves for better things. We now both know that we don't want to live without our mate in our lives."

A tear streaked down her cheek, but Sookie had a broad smile lighting up her face until she saw how much her tears visibly pained him.

"You're going to have to get used to the tears,” she said with a chuckle. “My hormones and, therefore, my emotions are all over the place these days and I cry at every little thing, be it happy or sad. Maybe you want to rethink your offer of giving me blood. You might not want to feel my rioting emotions."

"I want nothing more than to get my blood into you so that I may know that you are safe at all times, but also because I miss feeling you. If you were not pregnant, I'd ask you to exchange blood with me so that we would be one step closer to having a permanent bond,” he responded. Upon seeing her curious expression, he continued, “That is a discussion for another time. You are tired and in need of rest. Dawn will soon be here and I have a couple of calls I need to make. Will you please take my blood Sookie?"

"You promise you'll tell me about this bond that you want later?"

"I promise. We have plenty of time to talk about it and it will be your choice," he replied bringing his index finger to his mouth.

"Then I'll take your blood, but no complaints about my crazy emotions."

“No complaints,” he smiled, his eyes glittered with anticipation.

Sookie heard his fangs snick down before his bleeding finger appeared in front of her.

Wrapping both of her hands around his wrist, she paused and looked over her shoulder at him again.

"I love you, Eric," she proclaimed once more before she had his blood in her. Sookie wanted him to know that she loved him with or without his blood pumping through her.

"I love you, Sookie." Eric said with a beaming smile.

Sookie pulled his finger to her mouth, wrapping her tongue around the bleeding wound and sucked his thick, sweet blood as she maintained eye contact. She felt Eric grow hard against her back while he watched her with love and contentment in his eyes.

When his wound healed, she kissed first his finger and then the palm of his hand.

"Now it's time for you to get your rest," Eric said as he shifted her to lay down beside him. "You've had a lot of stress this evening and it can't be good for the baby."

Looking down at her, he placed one hand on her stomach and a lingering kiss to her forehead.

"Good night, älskling." He moved to snuggle up behind her as she turned on her side and yawned a sleepy goodnight.


	6. Chapter 6

Long after Sookie had fallen asleep, Eric laid behind her with an arm resting above her pregnant stomach and his nose buried in her hair.

He couldn’t believe that she was finally in his arms and that she loved him. The thought brought a smile to his normally stoic face.

Eric took one last, deep breath of her sweet scent before he kissed her temple and removed himself from the bed.

 _Could it be our bed?  At least for the time being it could. Sookie said she wanted to take it slow, but she had no objections tonight._  All Eric knew was that he never wanted to be without her again.

After slipping silently out of the room so that he wouldn’t wake the two most precious beings now in his life, he sat down in front of the bank of monitors and flipped through the feeds to make sure that there was no security breach.

Once he was satisfied, he turned on the motion sensors that surrounded the property and picked up his phone.

The phone rang four times before a groggy but deep voice answered.

“Northman,” he yawned out. “This better be good; I was out on an assignment until two a.m. and need my beauty rest.”

Eric let out a small chuckle before he addressed the man on the other end. “Clark, no amount of sleep is going to help with that ugly mug you call a face. What I have for you is top priority. You will drop  _everything_ and get to work as soon as the sun’s up. I’ll need you to report your findings at sundown.”

“What do you got, boss?” Clark replied, sitting up in bed and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He knew it was important and couldn’t let Northman down. Well, he could but he wanted to keep his life.

“I need you to go out to the Stackhouse residence in Bon Temps. A Were was murdered there yesterday. I picked up the scents of a Were and two fairies.”

_Shit.  Fucking fairies._

“I need you to see if you recognize any of the scents. I doubt you’ll know the fairies, but I’m hoping you’ll recognize the Were. Also, see if there are any new scents on the property. Find any and everything you can. We need to figure out who did this,” Eric commanded.

_Why does he care about a Were being killed?_

“Anything else?” Clark asked.

“Don’t breathe a word of this to anyone. No one is to know. The body has already been removed and anything further will be discussed at Fangtasia tonight. I have one more call to make before I go to rest.”

“Not a word,” Clark replied before he heard Northman hang up.

Eric threw that burner phone down before picking up another and dialed his eldest progeny.

“This better be important. You interrupted my bedtime snack,” Pam answered.

“A Were was murdered tonight,” Eric sighed into the phone.

“Why do we care?” She sassed back.  “Was it trying to kill you?”

“No, it was most probably killed by two fairies.”

“Fairies?!” Pam quickly shoved her meal out the door before heading downstairs to her bedroom and slipping out of her hideous Fangtasia wear. “Do we get to eat them?”

“Only if we can find them. I’m having Clark look into it and he’ll be meeting us at Fangtasia after sundown. I need you to make sure the bar is closed for the night.”

“We don’t need to close down for one meeting. If we have to we can…”

“You will shut it down because I said so. You easily forget your place,” he growled.

Eric knew she was going to be impossible once she found out Sookie was involved and even worse, when she realized their trouble magnet was in their lives to stay.

“Forgive me, Master. I’ll make sure it’s closed down. Is there anything else I need to do?” Pam questioned.

It had been years since Eric was upset with her and she didn’t understand why the death of a lone Were was getting his hackles up, but she wasn’t going to try and argue with him. Once he made up his mind about something, it was near impossible to change it and she didn’t have time before sunrise.

“Willa will also be joining us.”

Pam wanted to moan and complain, but knew now was not the time. She hated spending time with that political little snot.

“Very well, I’ll see you at sundown. Should I procure some donors since we won’t have time to feed before the meeting?”

“No,” Eric growled out.

“Very well, I’ll just take a few sips from our guest downstairs.”

“Fuck,” he snarled, getting up to pace and running his hand through his hair. “Fuck.”

“Or not,” Pam said uncertainly. What the hell was going on with him?

Eric didn’t know what to do. Sookie could not know Sarah was in the basement. She’d leave and never look back, but what was he to do? Sarah seemed to have gone crazy and hallucinated her dead ex-husband all the time lately. No amount of glamour worked,  but he needed her gone yesterday. Truthfully, he’d been trying to get rid of her for over a year. He was surprised when he arrived at Fangtasia after ordering Pam to get rid of her to find that their guest was still there and had begged to not be released. She was afraid of her dead husband and Eric had let her stay.  This time, he would not allow it.

“I assume you’re at Fangtasia since I know you’d never bring a meal to your house.”

“Of course I am. You left me with a voicemail saying you wouldn’t be in and to finish the paperwork for the new factory. It has taken me all night, along with running the bar,” she explained, each word dripping in annoyance.

“Good, when you rise I want you to glamour Mrs. Newlin into forgetting her stay and then let her go. She needs to be gone long before I arrive.”

“What are you talking about?  We can’t let her go,” Pam hissed into the phone.

“Enough!  You will do as I say!  So help me Pamela, if she is not gone when I get there tomorrow night I will cut you off. Permanently.” Eric stated each word slowly and deadly before he hung up.

Leaning his head back in the chair, Eric closed his eyes as he squeezed the bridge of his nose.

_If she costs me Sookie, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forgive her._

If Sookie wasn’t in danger and it wasn’t so close to dawn, Eric would have flown to Fangtasia and taken care of Sarah Newlin himself, but there was no way he was going to leave Sookie while she was in danger even if it meant that there was a possibility that Pam didn’t listen and he lost Sookie forever.  No matter what the cost, he would keep her safe.

After checking the monitors one last time, Eric made his way back to the bedroom to find Sookie lightly snoring, and the blankets kicked off.  Knowing that she would not appreciate finding him naked and dead for the day, he grabbed a pair of boxer briefs  before he took a quick a shower and got into bed.

The moment that he laid down next to Sookie, she turned over and snuggled into his side throwing an arm and leg over him. He wrapped an arm around her as he relished the feel of her warmth spreading over him inside and out.  It was a feeling he had forgotten.

“You’re back,” she murmured.

“I didn’t mean to wake you.  Go back to sleep,” Eric replied, kissing the top of her head.

OoOoO

Eric rose for the night with Sookie’s enhanced scent lingering in the room, but she was absent from his bed. He immediately used his renewed blood tie to make sure that she was safe and sound.

Sookie was safe and still downstairs and much to his delight moving toward him.

Eric sat up against the headboard and started to smooth his hair out like he was a teenage boy getting ready to meet a girl. He chuckled to himself and dropped his hands to the bed as he listened to Sookie enter in her code to enter.

Sookie stepped into the room with a smile on her face that he thought would never belong to him. She slowly waddled her way over to the bed before sitting next to him.

“Hi,” she said quietly.

“No need to be shy. Nothing’s changed… has it?” He asked nervously. Had she changed her mind?  Was it all from the stress of last night?

“Nothing for me.  I think we were both worried about the same thing,” she replied before looking down at her hands.

Placing his finger under her chin, Eric waited until their eyes met before he spoke.

“There’s nothing you can do that will ever make me stop wanting or loving you.”

He leaned in and was prepared to kiss her full pink lips, but wasn’t sure she was ready yet, so instead he kissed her forehead. Immediately feeling her disappointment, he smiled on the inside and did a little victory dance. Physical attraction had never been a problem with the two of them. It was always that Sookie had denied them both from doing what their bodies both wanted.

“I feel the same way,” she confessed. Eric could feel that she was telling the truth and only hoped that it was the case. There was a slight possibility that Pam hadn’t gotten rid of Sarah Newlin, and he didn’t think she’d be too understanding of the situation.

“I hate to rush you, but we need to leave for Fangtasia as soon the sun sets. We are meeting Pam, Willa, and my investigator. Willa will have a suitcase with some items that she was to pack up once we left last night. I’m going to get dressed and quickly scan the security footage. You are more than welcome to wear anything you find in my closet.”

While Eric checked over the footage after dressing as fast as only a vampire could, Sookie stood in the walk in closet that was as big as her bedroom. It only took a few seconds to realize that the only color in his wardrobe was black.

She grabbed a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants that luckily had elastic at the bottom of each leg. She was thankful that she at least had her shoes.  There was no way she could wear Eric’s and she didn’t want to go barefoot.

Once she was dressed in her temporary clothes for the night and had brushed her teeth and hair, Sookie set out to find her vampire.

Her vampire.

Never in her wildest dreams did Sookie imagine that Eric Northman would be hers.

A smile spread upon her face when she caught sight of him sitting in front of a wall full of monitor’s as the day’s activity sped by.

“Anything?” she asked when she came up behind him.

“All clear as it should be. No one knows about this place but you and I, and I plan to keep it that way,” he responded and turned toward her.

Eric eyed her in his clothes, once more wondering how difficult it would be to convince her to at least sleep in one of his t-shirts. He shook his head to rid him of his thoughts. They had more important matters to deal with than him staking his claim while they were locked away for the foreseeable future.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked, extending his hand out to her.

Without any hesitation Sookie placed her warm, small hand into his large, cold one.

“Ready whenever you are,” she smiled up at him.

They were almost to Fangtasia when Eric decided to address Sookie’s fidgeting and nervousness he felt through their tie. She obviously wasn’t going to mention whatever it was that was bothering her.

“We’ll be safe at Fangtasia and won’t stay gone long. If you’re not tired then maybe you’d like to watch a movie when we get back.”

“That would be great,” she replied, smiling. “We’ve never just hung out before.  Well except when you had amnesia, but I wasn’t worried about being safe at Fangtasia. I’ve always known I was safe with you.”

“Then why are you so fidgety and nervous?” he asked, glancing over at her.

“It’s not a big deal. Really. Let’s focus on this meeting with your investigator.”

“Sookie,” he said with a sigh. He picked up her hand that was playing with the edge of her seat. “You can tell me anything.  _Anything_. We have to be honest and unafraid to share ourselves with each other. I want you to be able to tell me anything, big or small.” He brought her hand up and brushed his lips against her knuckles.

“Tell me,” he softly implored her.

“I feel really stupid now. It’s not a big deal.” She noticed Eric give her a look that said he didn’t believe her. ”

“Honestly,” she laughed out. “Do you think it would be safe enough to go to the grocery store after we’re done at Fangtasia?”

“Is there something wrong with the food at the house?” he asked worried that she was hungry and had somehow not noticed.

“Well… It’s mostly canned food and when food has been in a can for too long, it starts to taste like… can. I need to be eating more natural foods.  Fresh foods,” she replied before she started to bite on her bottom lip.

Eric let out a growl that filled the SUV, startling her.

“I’m sorry,” he gruffly stated, but one look over at Sookie had him soften his tone. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you and for not having better food. When I arranged for the food, I didn’t know if the house would ever be used and I wanted food that wouldn’t go bad. There weren’t such things as canned goods when I was human and I didn’t realize it would affect the taste, nor did I think you’d _need_  to be eating healthy for your unborn child.”

Sookie reached over, placed her hand his shoulder, and then started to rub up and down his arm.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. I don’t expect you to know about how I should eat or that the can would change the taste. You haven’t had to think about food for over a thousand years, I don’t expect you to start now.”

“I should…” Eric started, but Sookie cut him off.

“No, what you’ve done for me… what you had in place for me when you thought I’d moved on and was with someone else is beyond anything anyone’s ever done for me. I don’t think I can express how appreciative I am. You dropped everything to come to me last night and it’s more than I deserve with how I treated you in the past, and I promise you that I will never take you for granted again.”

Eric could feel the conviction in her words. He pulled her hand from his arm before he kissed her palm and put their then laced hands on her leg.

Smiling over at her, he replied, “I can feel it and even if you weren’t, I’d still do it again and again for you. I’ll always do everything in my power to keep you safe. But now that we’re going to be together, I’ll need to know these things. It’s my job as your mate.”

“Mate?” she questioned.

“Mate, companion,” he replied with a shrug. “When we bond, if you do choose to bond with me, it’s permanent. In the Supernatural community it would be the same as if we were married.”

“That’s big,” she gulped. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”

“Yes, it is. I’m choosing you for the rest of  _our_  lives. It’s an important decision and one day soon I’ll tell you more about it.  I think it’s something we should wait to do until after the baby’s born, if it’s what you choose.”

“It’s important to you,” she half-stated and half-questioned.

“Very important.”


	7. Chapter 7

Both Eric and Sookie were quiet for the rest of their journey to Fangtasia. Eric was thinking he didn’t know what he would do if Sookie didn’t want to bond with him, and Sookie was lost in her own thoughts trying to imagine anything that Eric could possibly say that would make her not want to bond with him. He was essentially asking her to marry him or at least that’s how she understood it.

She let out a long sigh as she wished Eric had been the one she married instead of Dirk. The only good thing that had come out of their relationship was the baby boy she was now carrying.

She rubbed her free hand over her belly as if she was trying to soothe him already.

Sookie was surprised when Eric had seemed excited to learn it was a boy although she was slightly worried about if he’d want to be a father to another man’s baby. He’d said that they were both  _his_ , but could or would he love her baby?  She sure as hell hoped so because if she had to let go of Eric again she wasn’t sure she’d be able to survive.

The car turning off brought her out of her thoughts and back to the present.

“What’s kept you so deep in your thoughts over there?” Eric asked while he unbuckled her seatbelt.

“Baby stuff.”

“Are you worried that something could happen to the baby? That he’s in danger?” He asked, looking down at her stomach.

“No, I know you won’t let anything happen to either of us,” she replied, noticing that his eyes seemed transfixed on her belly. She reached over and brought his hand to her belly. A smile spread across her face as she watched his large hand flatten and spread across her stomach.

They sat quietly for a minute in the same position until the baby seemed to wake up with the hiccups causing Eric to actually jump back as if he was startled.

“He’s got the hiccups,” she said with laughter as she brought his hand back.

“I’ve never felt anything like it,” Eric answered with awe. “He’s okay?” he asked looking to Sookie’s face and then her belly.

“He’s perfectly fine,” Sookie placed her hand on top of his.

Eric continued to stare down at their hands until the baby was no longer moving. He looked back up at Sookie with his sweetsmile that she had only seen when he had no idea who he was.

[ ](http://i2.wp.com/www.gyllene76.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Alex-in-What-Maisie-Knew-alexander-skarsgard-30839599-500-255.gif)

“Thank you for sharing this with me,” he said softly.

All of Sookie’s fears on whether or not he’d ever come to love her baby vanished. Leaning forward, she brushed her lips across his before she spoke.

“Thank you for  _everything,_ ” Sookie cupped the side of his face and ran her thumb along his cheek.  Eric leaned into her touch,her heat, that made him feel alive each and every time she touched him.

“We should get inside before Pam and Willa come storming out wondering why we’ve been sitting out here for so long,” He pulled her hand away and kissed her palm.

Sookie had barely noticed he’d moved before her door was open and he was helping her out of the car.

“Does Pam know I’ll be here?” Sookie asked nervously.

Eric looked down at his nervous little fairy and entwined their fingers.  “No,” he replied as he pulled her through the backdoor. He felt her go rigid for a moment before she let him lead them down the hall and into the bar portion of Fangtasia.

Sookie saw Pam, Willa, and an unknown brown-haired man, who from his brain signature she could tell he was a Were, all standing around the bar. Taking a quick look around, she realized the place looked exactly as it did the first time she visited.

They all turned at the same time.  Willa had a smile on her face, the man whom she assumed was Eric’s investigator looked at them curiously, and Pam was scowling at them.

“Fuck a zombie! What the hell is she doing here?” Pam spat out, each word filled with more hatred than the previous one.

“She’s here because we’re together now,” Eric said as he pulled out a chair and helped Sookie sit before he sat down next to her. Taking her hand once again he looked up at the shocked expressions on each of them. “Do you want anything to drink?” He asked as he brought their joined hands to rest on the table.

“Water?” Sookie asked. She was unsure if she should get it or if someone else would. There were no employees; with three vampires and a Were present, she knew they most likely thought of her as the least important person in the room.

“That’s all you want?” Eric asked as he stood.

“I can’t drink alcohol because of the baby,”  No matter how much I might want it, she thought eyeing Pam.

“I’ll learn these things, I promise you,” he replied while he filled a glass with water.

He placed her water in front of her, and then sat down next to her again.

“Willa, do you have Sookie’s stuff?” he asked as he watched Sookie take a long drink.

“It’s in my car,” Willa responded while she made her way over to her friend. “Are you okay, Sookie?”

Putting down her drink, she smiled at her friend. “I’m good. How ’bout yourself?”

“Just fine. I’ll go get your things,” Willa said looking back and forth between Eric and Sookie.

_Looks like they finally talked. It’s about time._

“You can put it in the SUV. Clark, let’s hear what you’ve found out,” he said motioning for Clark to join them.

[ ](http://i2.wp.com/www.gyllene76.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/bf-clark1.jpg)

“I made my way out to Bon Temps this morning just like you asked. When I got there I immediately noticed fresh scents,probably only an hour or so old. It was the same two fairies who had been there previously. No sign that the Were had been back though.”

“Could you place the Were?” Eric asked. He pushed his chair closer to Sookie’s, and then draped his arm around her shoulders.

Clark eyed the ancient vampire’s actions. He could smell Northman’s blood in her, but didn’t detect her blood in him. His boss was definitely staking his claim on this Sookie.

_Nothing like dealing with a possessive vampire._

Sookie let out a small giggle when she heard his thoughts.

“What’s so funny, älskling?” Eric asked with a smile on his face.

Pam was watching them from the bar. She couldn’t remember the last time Eric had smiled or felt this happy. Probably when he was last with Sookie. Still, she didn’t like it. Once she had him alone they’d be having words, but for now she’d keep quiet.

“You being a possessive vampire,” Sookie replied with a laugh.

“Oh, sweet Sookie, you haven’t seen possessive yet,” he smirked at her with a wink.

Clark’s shocked expression had Sookie giggling again.

“I’m a telepath,” she stated. Sookie watched him gulp and become nervous. It was something she was all too familiar with. “Weres are harder for me to read unless you’re thinking something strongly or to me.”

“Good to know,” Clark replied uneasily.

Eric’s body tensed before he spoke coolly toward the man. “Are you thinking, doing, or planning anything that would causeyou to become so nervous?”

“No,” Clark shook head his vehemently.

Eric turned seeing Sookie also shake her head.

“Good, keep it that way or losing your job will be the least of your worries.”

That was just what Clark feared. He’d known Northman long enough to know that he never bluffed. If he did anything that Northman deemed inappropriate toward this Sookie, he would pay for it and not only with his job.

“Eric,” Sookie said, lightly swatting his arm. “Leave the poor man alone. He hasn’t once  _thought_ anything bad and, even if he did, people think things all the time that they don’t plan to act on. I can tell he’s a good man.”

Eric let out a grunt, but glared at his investigator, letting him know that even though Sookie had let him off the hook, there would still be trouble if he caught wind of him thinking or doing anything that upset her.

“Now, where were we? Oh, you knew where the Were was from,” Sookie stated before drinking more of her water.

“Does he now?” Eric asked, leaning back in his chair.

“Sorry, force of habit when I meet someone new.”

“Nothing to be sorry about,” he said taking her hand in his. “I wasn’t expecting you to use your gift. You don’t have to do that ifyou don’t want to. It’s not expected of you.”

Both Sookie and Pam’s mouths hung open in disbelief at his statement.

“If I ever have need for your service, I’ll ask you beforehand and, of course, pay you. I’ve gotten along just fine without your gift and never want you to feel as if it is something expected.  That’s not what we’re about.”

“You won’t need to pay me for me helping you, but thank you,” she replied with a smile.

Through their tie, Eric could feel how much it meant to her that he didn’t expect her to use her gift, and also that he wanted to pay her. He could feel that she was determined to take no money from him, or stop reading his employee.

“We’ll talk about it another time,” he stated before turning back to Clark. “You know this Were that was on her property?”

“I wouldn’t say know, but I’ve encountered him a few times. He’s a rogue from Alabama. He’ll do just about any job for the right amount of money. He won’t stop until he’s finished the job and gotten paid. His name is Patrick Sullivan.”

“Fuck! Why would two fairies pay a Were to do a job they could easily do themselves?”

“Maybe because they have to be in their realm and time passes by much more quickly here than there. When I was gone, it was only for fifteen to twenty minutes tops, and I missed over a year’s time here,” Sookie explained.

“Do you have any enemies in the Fae realm that you know of?” Eric asked. He was angry for not realizing these implications and not asking her any of this sooner.

Instead of trying to get her to be his when she had returned after being gone for thirteen of the longest months of his life, he should have found out where she had been and what had happened. He’d had a pretty good idea since one minute their tie was gone and the next it was back and waking him from his day rest.

“Besides crazy ass Queen Mab and her followers?  I don’t think so.”

“Fucking hell! Why didn’t we ever talk about this? Why didn’t you tell me?” He asked with evident hurt in his voice.

“There was always something going on. You got amnesia right after I got back, then there was the witch war, the whole Authority bullshit, Russell, Vamp Camp, Hep V, you disappearing for six months and coming back infected,” she glared at him. “Then after you got healed, we didn’t see each other again for over four years. When was I supposed to tell you?” She asked with tears in her eyes. “I haven’t had any problems or even seen another fairy, except for my great grandfather since Warlow died.”

Eric growled when he heard the fairy-vampire’s name. He knew that Sookie had taken his blood and had sex with him while he was stuck in Vamp Camp. He still wasn’t happy about it.

“If I had any problems or any idea that they were after me, I would have come to you,” she said quietly as a tear slipped down her cheek.

Once Eric smelled and then saw her tears, he quickly scooped her up and placed her in his lap. Tucking her head underneath his chin, he started to caress her hair and spoke quietly to her.

“Please don’t cry, dear one.  I won’t let anyone hurt you. If I would have known that the Queen herself was possibly after you, I would have provided more security than having Willa check up on you every once in a while. But now I know and all that matters is you’re here with me and safe.”

Sookie nodded her head, but still continued to silently cry.

“Don’t think of the past,” he urged her, running his fingers through her hair.  “We’re together now and have all the time in the world to talk. Right?”

She nodded her head again while a few more tears escaped, and curled up into his lap as best she could with being almost eight months pregnant and in a chair.

“Is this those pregnancy hormones you were talking about?” he asked against the top of her head.

“Yes,” she half laughed and half sobbed out.

He nodded his head against the top of hers and wrapped his arms tightly around her. “I hate it that you’re crying, but I understand, or at least I’m trying to.”

Eric continued to try and soothe her, when he tilted his face up to see Pam, Willa, and Clark all staring at him in astonishment.

Pam had only seen this side of Eric a few times and it seemed they were mostly reserved for that fucking, magical fairy vagina who was currently sitting on his lap.

Willa was shocked to see how caring her Maker was to her friend. Eric had never been mean or cruel to her, but they were still trying to forge a relationship. She knew he must care for Sookie more than she ever thought if he was willing to let anyone see this side of him.

Clark only knew that while Eric was a good employer, and an honorable vampire, he was also one that you didn’t want to get on his bad side. Eric rarely showed any emotion whatsoever and if he did, it was because someone had gone against his laws. When that happened everyone knew to clear out of his way.  You did not want to be in front of him once his temper was raised. So to see him holding this woman in his arms and trying to console her was not something Clark thought he’d ever see from any vampire, let alone Eric Northman.

It was obvious to everyone in the room how much Eric loved his Sookie.

“Wipe that stupid grin off your face and tell me what else you know,” Eric said impatiently.

“Like I said before, when I arrived at the house, the scent from the fairies was fresh. They hadn’t been gone long before I got there. They had circled the house, but didn’t go in. They…” He looked over at Sookie before letting out a deep breath. “They destroyed her car. It was still in flames when I got there, and they left a message in blood on her front door. ”

“What did it say?” Eric growled out. He sat up ramrod straight, curling himself around Sookie, trying to shield her as if danger was imminent.

“You’re next hybrid bitch,” Clark said quietly, afraid that since he was the messenger of bad news, he might be killed.

Sookie turned and sobbed into Eric’s neck until she fell asleep while everyone else sat at the table and quietly strategized on how best to catch the fairies who were after her.

Sookie didn’t wake up again until Eric was laying her down in his, their bed.

“Where are we?” she asked as she stretched out on her side and opened her eyes to see a worried Eric.

“Back at the safe house,” he replied as he sat down on the edge of the bed beside her.

“But I thought we were going to the grocery store,” she stated and started to sit up. Eric wrapped an arm around her waist and helped her.

“We were, but you were very upset and had fallen asleep so I figured you needed your rest. Clark offered to get you groceries tomorrow, and then I’ll meet up with him to retrieve our supplies and see if he has any new information.”

“It’s probably too late now to go anyway,” Sookie really didn’t want to eat anymore of the canned food, but it would only be for one more day.

Lifting up her hand, Eric placed a kiss on her palm before he cupped her face with both hands.

“I know you probably don’t want to eat the food here,” he started.

“It’s okay. It’s only for one more day.”

“You didn’t let me finish.”

“I’m sorry. Please go ahead.”

“I knew you didn’t want the canned food here so I… I guess you’d call it, raided the employee refrigerator at Fangtasia. It isn’t much, a few things of yogurt, a banana, and an apple, but it’s only until I meet with Clark. Now that you’re awake, you can make a list of the foods you want and I’ll send it to him.”

“Thank you for thinking of me,” she said as she leaned over and hugged Eric.

“Always,” he replied, kissing the top of her head.


	8. Chapter 8

“How are you feeling?” Eric asked her after a few minutes of being snuggled up together.

“Fine,” Sookie replied instinctively. Eric gave her a disbelieving look.

Taking in a deep breath, Sookie’s face fell and her eyes started to well up before him.  Eric pulled her as close to him as possible with her burgeoning belly between them.

Gods he hated to see her cry. It always caused a deep ache in his chest, but he would endure or take even more if there was any way for him to take away her hurt.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asked after kissing her forehead.

“What’s to talk about? Once again, I have someone or something out to kill me only this time I have a baby to think about. I can’t let them kill an innocent child because of my foolish mistakes,” she said with a sniff as her tears started to fall.

“I know you’re scared and you have every right to be, but I promise to protect both you and the baby. I won’t stop until my true death. “ Eric vowed as he let a hand run down her arm, and then tenderly caressed her belly. “They won’t be able to find you here. Is it possible for you to contact your grandfather? Maybe he’d know who it is or give us some clue. I won’t stop looking for them until they’re dead.”

“Unfortunately, these ruthless motherfuckers probably have the same idea, but…”

“That’s supposed to make me feel better?” She squeaked out.

A broad smile spread across his face before he continued. “But,” he said pointedly. “They’re not as ruthless as I am nor are they fighting for something as precious as I am.”

Looking up at Eric from under her wet lashes an almost innocent smile spread across her face causing Eric to run his thumb along her full bottom lip.

“You certainly can be sweet, Eric Northman,” she spoke against his thumb.

“I’m only telling the truth. I can’t be without you ever again. I’m being purely selfish,” he replied, leaning in and hovering over her sweet lips with only an inch between the two of them.

He looked up into her eyes, to her lips, and then back to her eyes.

“May I kiss you, Miss Stackhouse?” He asked, gulping as he took one last look at her perfect lips. “If it’s too much, too soon, I’ll understand.”

His hand moved to cup her cheek as his thumb made its way from her lip to sweep against her cheekbone.

Sookie hated seeing the uncertainty in his eyes and before her brain could talk her out of it, she leaned in the remaining distance and pressed her lips to his.

Cool met hot and in that moment everything seemed right in the world as their lips met.

Eric pulled away, afraid that he wouldn’t be able to stop and he didn’t want to push Sookie into doing anything that she wasn’t prepared for yet.

“Sweet,” she whispered with a coy smile.

“Only for you.  You’re tired and it’s late. Why don’t we go lay on the couch and watch a movie?”

“That sounds good. I don’t think I’ll be awake for long. Too bad there isn’t a TV in here too,” Sookie replied with a yawn.

“If you want one I can pick one up tomorrow night and set it up for you. Just say the word.”

“Word,” she responded with a laugh.

“Your wish is my command,” he replied with a playful bow.

Eric helped her up from the bed and into the basement’s entertainment area. They both sat on the couch while Eric flipped through the channels trying to find something to watch at four in the morning.

After a few minutes, Sookie stretched out on the couch and placed her head on Eric’s leg. Eric had grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch and set it over her before he started to run his fingers through her hair.

How could the simplest of touches bring him such immense peace?

“Do you think it would be alright if I ventured to the upper part of the house tomorrow?” Sookie asked with a yawn.

His fingers stilled for a moment before they continued working their way through her hair.

“You can go upstairs, but I want you to leave the door to down here open and if you think anything is wrong,  _anything,_  I wantyou to come back here and lock the house down.”

“I don’t want you to be left vulnerable,” she responded, turning her head to look up at him.

Her concern for him continued to warm his cold dead heart each and every time she worried for him.

“I’ll be fine. If anything were to go wrong, I should be able to feel it through our tie. I’m more worried about you. I’m not trying to be insensitive here, but you’re quite a bit slower than you normally are. I want you to be able to get back down here as quicklyand as safely as possible. Please do this for me?” He pleaded with puppy dog eyes.

 

[ ](http://i0.wp.com/www.gyllene76.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Puppy-Dog-Eyes.jpg)

How could she resist those eyes? And she knew that he knew that when he gave her that face he’d always get his way.  She shook her head at him with a slight smile on her face.

“I hope you don’t think that every time you want to get your way you’re going to pull that face.  It’s not fair,” Sookie spoke quietly as she traced his eyebrows with her thumbs.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he replied, trying to look innocent.

“You, Eric Northman, may be able to get whatever you want with those puppy dog eyes but you cannot pull off innocence,” she said, first laughing, and then yawning.

“I beg to differ,” he said with a cocky smile which quickly gave way to flattening out with his face becoming serious once more.  “I don’t want you to feel trapped, but I need you safe.  Please promise me.”

“I promise you.”

Her face turned solemn and she turned back to the TV as she pulled the blanket up to her chin.

“What just happened?” Eric asked as he leaned over her so that he could see her face.

“Nothing,” Sookie replied and then closed her eyes.

“It sure as hell doesn’t feel like nothing,” Eric spoke each word filling with more agitation than the last.

“You’re going to have to stop doing that.”

“Doing what?  Making you promise me to be safe?”  With only a shake of her head, Eric became more frustrated.  “What is it then?  Talk to me,” he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her back flush against him. “Don’t shut me out.”

“It’s these damn pregnancy hormones.  I’m being overly sensitive, nothing more.  I hate that you have to feel all of these emotions that I have little to no control over,” she responded quietly.

“You did warn me.” Still curled over her body, he placed a kiss on her forehead before he sat back.  “Was it something I said that upset you?”

Letting out a deep sigh, Sookie turned in his lap so that she was still laying down but facing him.

“In a way,” Sookie looked up at his face and could see his curiosity and love for her. Looking back down, she fisted his shirt in her hand before she spoke. “I’m big and I’m only going to get bigger, and it’s going to take some time until I’m ready to have sex with you.”

Sookie paused and curled into herself, hating herself for feeling this way.

“You told me it would take time and I understand.  I don’t see what the problem is.”

Eric couldn’t understand where these feelings were coming from or why and he thought they had little to do with her hormones.

“I’m worried,” she whispered against his rock hard stomach.

“About?” Eric asked after a few moments of silence.

“Say I finally become ready in another month. I’ll be huge and disgusting,” she quietly said as a tear slipped down her cheek. “And if it’s after the baby’s born then we’ll have to wait a mandatory six weeks after he’s born. Who knows what my body will be like afterwards?”

“First of all, I think you’re more beautiful now than you’ve ever been.  I don’t know if it’s a fairy thing or not, but you’re glowing from the inside out. You’re not becoming fat, but round with child.”

“Soon I’ll barely be able to reach you with how large my stomach’s becoming,” she said with a pout.

“If you can’t reach me then I’ll just have to reach you, Sookie,” he sighed. He waited until she looked up at him before he continued. “I don’t care how long it takes for you to be comfortable with yourself and ready. I’ll wait for as long as it takes. I have a feeling that there’s more to this than you’re telling me.”

Eric felt her nod against him and stayed quiet. He didn’t want to push her, but wished it were easier for her to talk to him.

After several minutes of quiet, he would have thought she had drifted off to sleep if it wasn’t for the continued steady beat of her heart and breathing.

“I believe that you think you can wait until I’m ready, but I know your reputation. You’re not one who’s used to going without sex for a day let alone months.”

Sookie felt his body stiffen and his hands leave the touch of her body.  When she looked up at him, she saw that his eyes had turned cold and a slight twitch in his jaw. Pushing herself up, she sat beside Eric as she watched him shutdown. His hands were balled up into fists on each side of his legs and he continued to stare ahead without uttering a single word.

After trying several times to lift up his hand and get him to talk, Sookie slowly rose from the couch before a sob broke out. She quickly wiped away her tears and headed to the bathroom.

She had been in the shower sobbing for what felt like hours over how she had already fucked everything up with Eric when he stepped into the shower fully clothed and wrapped her in his arms. Before burying her head in his chest, she caught the sight of a single red streak on his otherwise stoic face.

“I’m sorry,” they both said in unison. Sookie let out a laugh that was mixed with a sob as Eric picked her up bridal style before he gently sat her on the bathroom’s vanity, and left to get a towel.

Once he was back with a stack of towels, he wrapped one around her body and then her hair with another before cradling her back against his chest.

Sookie let out a squeak and then pushed herself away from his chest.

“You’re freezing and wet. Take off those wet clothes. What were you thinking?”

Eric started to peel off his wet clothing that were clinging to every inch of his body and Sookie couldn’t take her eyes off him until he started pushing down his tight black jeans. She knew if she caught sight of what he had to offer, her resolve would waver and she’d jump him. Though it sounded good at the moment, she knew she needed time, and didn’t want to have any regrets the next day that could make their situation more stressful.

“You’ve seen it all before,” he chuckled.

“I know, but you’re too tempting. Why don’t you take a shower and when you get out I’ll be dressed and ready for bed?”

Sookie sat without looking until she heard the shower water come on, and then she slipped off the counter and made her way into the closet to her suitcase. She searched for something to wear to bed, but the only thing Willa had packed was a longflannel nightgown. There was no way she’d be able to sleep in it without burning up. Looking around she decided on wearing another one of Eric’s shirts and a pair of his boxers. Maybe tomorrow she’d do their laundry since she kept wearing his clothes.

When Eric came out of the bathroom steam bellowed out and Sookie felt a rush of heat not only from the steam, but also from seeing him with only a towel wrapped around his waist.

He smirked as he made his way into the closet. When he came back out, he had on a pair of pajama pants sitting low on his hips.

Slipping into bed, Eric spooned up behind Sookie wrapping his body around hers. She wiggled in closer to his body that was warm from the shower, before lacing their fingers together.

“I’m sorry,” she said with a sniff.

“No more crying tonight,” Eric softly demanded. “It is I who should be sorry. I knew you were upset and I let you leave. I wanted to wait to talk to you when I was calmer.”

Eric laid his head on her pillow and inhaled her scent to try and center himself.

“Do you believe that I would be unfaithful to you?”

Although he tried to hide it, Sookie could hear the hurt in his voice.

“No,” she stated with confidence. Sookie tried to turn around but Eric had her pinned in place.

“I promise I will stay faithful to you until the end of my days and you should know I never go back on a promise,” he vowed as his cool breath caressed her ear.

“I know.” Taking their joined hands to her mouth, she kissed the back of his hand before cradling them to her chest. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”  Sookie sniffed again.

“I know,” he replied with a sigh. “You know  _of_ my reputation, but I haven’t been that way in quite some time.  I can wait as long as you need. I doubt it will be longest I’ve gone without sex.”

“I find that very hard to believe.  I mean you could have anyone you want.”

“And I plan on having who I want.  I want you and no one else.  Trust me when I say all will be well.  I won’t pressure you and I don’t want you to pressure yourself.”

“Can I ask you a question?” She asked with a loud yawn.

“You can ask me anything,” he replied nuzzling his nose into her hair.

“What’s the longest you’ve gone without sex?” Eric could feel her trepidation of his answer.

“Twenty-five years.  And in case you’re wondering which I’m sure you are, it’s been almost four years since the last time I had any type of sexual encounter with anyone.”

That time when Sookie tried to turn over Eric rolled off of her and let her re-adjust herself on her other side before he wrapped his arm around her.

Sookie’s mouth was still hanging open when Eric looked down at her after her long silence.

“Really?” She whispered.  She couldn’t believe he had ever gone that long without sex and that he hadn’t had sex in the lastfour years.  It was more than she could hope for.  Sookie realized she needed to stop thinking that something was going to come along and end their relationship.  She wasn’t going to mess up as she had done in the past. Eric loved her and he wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize it.  They had both been through enough over the years and now was their time.

“Yes, really.  Are you ready to go to sleep?”

“No,” she shook her head.  “I’m having a really strong craving.  Why do they always have to happen late at night when there’s nothing I can do about it?” she pouted.

“What are you craving?  Perhaps we have it or I can go to the store and get it for you.”

“You’d really go to the store for me?” Sookie asked, perking up with a smile.

“I’ll do anything to keep that smile on your face.  What is it that you’re craving?” he asked as he ran his thumb along her smilingface.

“I want tuna with water in a can, a box of Macaroni and Cheese, chocolate ice cream, and a can of V8.”

Eric got out of bed and quickly got dressed before he brought her phone over to the nightstand on her side of the bed.  He leaned down and kissed her forehead before he started to head to the door.  “Call me if you think of anything else you want or need.  I should be gone no longer than twenty minutes.”

Fifteen minutes later Eric was strutting through the door with his bag of goodies.  It made him happy and proud to provide what Sookie needed.

“Thank you,” Sookie said as she took the bag out of his hand and made her way into the downstairs kitchen.  She sat each of the items out on the counter and retrieved a bowl from the cabinets.  After draining the tuna in the sink and then emptying it into the bowl, she opened up the Mac and Cheese and dug out the cheese packet and sprinkled it over the tuna.  Next, she got out two spoons, one for the tuna cheese concoction, and the other for her chocolate ice cream.  Last but not least, she got a glass, filled it with ice, and then poured the V8 into it.

Sookie took it all over to the bar and then sat on a barstool as she devoured her late night snack.  After eating all of her powdery cheese tuna mix and half of the pint of ice cream Sookie looked up to see Eric looking like she’d never seen him before.

[ ](http://i0.wp.com/www.gyllene76.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Trying-not-to-throw-up.jpg)

“Are you okay?” Sookie asked with a giggle.

“Is this a normal craving for you?” He asked after he opened his eyes.

“Not normal, but I’ve had it a couple of times since I’ve been pregnant.  Why?” she asked curiously.

Eric looked her over and then let out a deep breath. “That has to be the most disgusting combination of food.  Just the sight of it,” he shook his head.  “I’m sorry, Sookie; if my body could throw up it would.”

“It’s not normally this bad.  If it bothers you then you can leave.  It won’t bother me none. Let me clean this up, and then I’ll be ready to go to bed.”

After rinsing off her dishes and putting them into the dishwasher, Sookie used the restroom, and brushed her teeth before joining Eric in bed.

He wrapped his arms around her holding her tightly until she fell asleep.  Only right before he went into his daytime rest did he ease his grip so that she’d be able to move once she woke up the next day.


	9. Chapter 9

Eric rose for the night to find his bed cold and Sookie sitting on the couch in front of the TV folding laundry.

“Sookie, what are you doing,” he asked as he watched her fold a pair of his socks.

Turning around, Sookie smiled up at him as she held out the socks she had just folded. “Laundry, why?” she asked as she looked over at a clock on the wall only to realize how late it had gotten.

“Oh, Eric, I didn’t realize how late it is,” she said as she moved the pile of laundry in her lap to the seat next to her and attempted to rise.

Eric, with a devious smile on his face, was suddenly in front of her with his hands on her shoulders to prevent her fromstanding.

“Why is that?  So I wouldn’t catch you doing laundry?” he asked with one of his brows arched.

“No,” Sookie said, her voice exasperated, but with a smile on her face.  “I was planning on taking a nap with you after I finished with the laundry, but I guess it took longer than I thought.”

Sookie looked around at the remaining items she needed to fold and then back to Eric.  “Do you have a problem with me doing the laundry?”  Sookie had no idea why he seemed almost upset at finding her folding clothes.

“You don’t need to do laundry, especially mine. I normally send it out.”

“Well it certainly wasn’t going to do itself, and we’re in hiding, somewhat.  We’ve both been wearing your clothes and if I didn’t do it soon you’d run out of clean things to wear. Plus, I had nothing better to do, so I don’t mind.  It’s the least I could do.”

“You’re wearing your own clothes now, though.”

Sookie gave him a look that said ‘and’…

“I like you wearing my clothes,” he responded with a slight pout.

“Heaven help me with that lip,” Sookie said shaking her head.

Eric smiled knowing just what that lip did and then looked around the room noticing quite a few piles of tiny clothes in blues, greens, and yellows along with their clothes and towels. He picked up something that was white with a blue polka dotted duck on it and was shocked to see how tiny it was.  The body fit perfectly in the palm of his hand. He thought back to his baby sister and couldn’t remember a time when she had ever been little enough to wear something this small.

****[ ](http://i1.wp.com/www.gyllene76.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/duck-onesie.jpg) ** **

After picking up and looking at a few more articles of the baby’s clothing, Eric turned his gaze onto Sookie. He knew he needed to talk to her more about the baby and their life now that they were together, but he didn’t have the time to do so right now.

“I need to go to Fangtasia to meet with Clark and talk to Pam.  Since you’re tired, why don’t you take a nap while I’m gone?  I can pick you up something to eat while I’m out, or you can have something from the groceries Clark picked up for you.”

“I am tired,” Sookie said while rubbing her belly.  “I think I will take a short nap while you’re out, and I’ll make myself something when you get back.”

Eric helped Sookie up from the couch and walked with her into their bedroom. Sookie took care of her human needs, then snuggled into the pillows and blankets with Eric tucking the blanket around her before kissing her on the forehead.

“I shouldn’t be gone long.  If you need anything at all while I’m out, use the phone by the bed,” he said before kissing her forehead once more and leaving.

OoOoO

Eric walked into his office to find Pam sitting behind his desk scowling at the computer screen and tapping her manicured fingertip against the mouse.  He leaned against the wall across from her and waited impatiently until she looked up at him.

“What? No magical fairy vagina with you tonight,” Pam sneered without taking her eyes off the screen.

“Sookie,” he said with a pointed look, “is at home.”

“Home?  Eric, we don’t have homes.  What are you doing with her? Playing family for a few months before she decides she’s done with you?  I don’t know why you let her back into your life again.” Pam looked at him with annoyance before going back to glaring at the computer screen.

“I let her back into my life again because I love her.  Always have, always will.  I’m finally happy and have something to look forward to. You don’t need to worry about me,” Eric said with a reassuring smile. “Sookie and I have talked about the past and know where each other stands.  She’s not going anywhere.”

“Probably because you’ve got her locked up in some secret house. A house that you won’t even tell _me_  about,” Pam replied attempting to look hurt.

“She’s not locked away.  I’m keeping her safe.  It’s very likely she has a couple of fairies and a Were out to kill her. I will not risk her safety. Not now.  Anyways, don’t get your panties in a twist because you don’t know our location.”

“Even if I wore panties that wouldn’t be the case,” she deadpanned. “ _I’m_  looking out for you.   _I’m_  the one who’s been by your side all this time while you yearned for her year after year, and _I_  saw firsthand the heartbreak she put you through.   In all truth, I’m afraid of what you might do if,  ** _if_** , she leaves you.  Until she proves herself, I’ll remain skeptical of your dear Sookie.”

“Pam,” Eric said tiredly, shaking his head.  “Try to be nice to Sookie.  She doesn’t need the stress of worrying about you along with everything else that’s happening.”

“I can be  _nice_ ,” she said, her devious expression giving lie to her words.  The innocently batting eyelashes didn’t help as much as she thought.

Eric snorted. “See that you do. For Me.”

“Why are you here anyway? I thought you’d be with your…,” Eric quirked his eyebrow as he stared at her. “Your Sookie, playing house.”

“I’m meeting Clark here to pick up food for Sookie. I had a last minute errand for him to run before meeting me.”

Eric moved over to the couch and splayed his long body across it as he waited.

They were both quiet for a few minutes. The only sound was Pam fingers flying across the keyboard as she made that week’s liquor order.

“Now that Sookie’s back in my life and needs to be kept safe, I think my time here is finished,” he spoke casually hoping to not start a tirade.

“I figured as much,” she said with a shrug and a flick of her wrist. “It wasn’t like you were bringing in the vermin these days once word got out that you were no longer fucking them. I still don’t understand why.  It’s not as if your lovely little fairy was celibateduring your time apart,” Pam scoffed.

“Pam,” Eric warned.

“Will you be around at all?” She asked going back to her work and secretly shopping with his credit card as if it didn’t bother her that Eric was no longer going to be around.  She could already feel the distance growing between them.

“Of course!” He exclaimed, sitting up and slinging his legs around to the front of the couch. “We’re going to need Auntie Pam around.”

His face turned serious as he looked at her.  “I want to be a father to this baby, Pam.  I don’t care that it is not biologically mine.  It’s a part of Sookie therefore I will love it no matter what, but do you think she’ll want me to be the father?”

“If she loves you like you say she does, then of course she will.  You just need to talk to her about it.  You’ll be a great father.  I know this because of how great of a Maker you’ve been to me,” she stated with the soft smile he rarely saw.  “Please this  _baby_ will have me as an aunt and I’m going to be fucking awesome!”

“Absolutely,” he said with a laugh then nodded his head in agreement.  Pam would, indeed, make an awesome aunt.

“Do you happen to know if it’s going to be a girl or a boy?” Pam asked from her rapid typing.

“A boy,” Eric said with a brilliant smile, his expression proud as if he had something to do with it.

“Of course,” Pam scowled at the computer screen.  “Why couldn’t she at least produce a girl for me to work with?  Do you think she’d mind if I dressed him up as a girl?  There are so many more options for girls.  Is it too late for her to switch it out for a girl?”

Eric stared at her for a moment wondering if she could possibly be serious, but knowing Pam and her love of pink, he wouldn’t put it past her to try and switch the baby out.

“Yes, Pamela,” he said, his voice heavy with both exasperation and reluctant humor.

His pointed glare told Pam he was serious.

“Fine,” she said with an eye roll.  “Does she have the nursery ready?”

After a few moments of quiet, Pam looked up to see Eric sitting there with a scowl on his face.

“Well?”

“I don’t know.  We’ve only had a short time together and haven’t really discussed any of those things.  Knowing Sookie she’ll probably want to go back to her house in Bon Temps and has it already set up there.”

“What’s wrong with her house?  I thought you liked it there.  You spent enough time there when she was missing.”

Eric shrugged his shoulders as they heard the back door slam closed.  They listened to footsteps approach the door before there was a knock.

“Come in, Clark,” Eric said as stood and made his way over to lean against the wall.  “Did you get what I asked for?” Eric asked as Clark made his way into the room.

“Yes, but I’m not turning into your dayman or anything like that.  I only did it for your girl.”

Eric glared but said nothing.

“It’s all in my truck,” he said looking back and forth between the two vampires in the room.

“Any news on the investigation of the fairies and Were?”

Clark shook his head. “I put out some feelers to all the right people. I didn’t want it getting out there that we know it’s Patrick Sullivan. Maybe he’ll be stupid and start sniffing around again if he doesn’t know we’re onto him. As for the fairies, I have no clue who to ask. I’ve never even meet a fairy before.  I’ll keep going out to the property every day to see if they come back or send someone else and keep you informed.”

“See that you do. We need to find these fuckers,” Eric growled. “Pam, I’ll be in touch. I need to get home to Sookie.”

Eric and Clark silently walked out to the back parking lot where they retrieved Sookie’s food and the TV that Eric had called him to get right before they met tonight.

“Thank you,” Eric said as he started to get into his SUV.  He laughed at the shocked look on Clark’s face. “What?” He asked in annoyance.

“You.  I’ve been working for you for ten years and now you’re like a totally different vampire.  I have to say I like it.  She’s a good influence on you.”

“Don’t think that if you screw up that she’ll be able to save you. There is nothing I won’t do to protect to her or that baby, and that includes killing you.  Remember that,” Eric stated with deadly calm, his nostrils flaring.

“I won’t forget,” Clark said as he started walking backward.  “I’ll let you know if I find something.”

Eric put the key in the ignition, took off out of the parking lot, and headed to the safe house. Constantly on alert, he kept a look out for anyone following him and, just in case, took a few unneeded turns.

Once back at the safe house, he quickly grabbed all the bags with groceries and descended downstairs, and placed them on the counter.

As Eric walked into the bedroom, he decided that it was ‘their’ bedroom, especially since Sookie didn’t seem to mind sharing a bed with him. Yes…it was their bedroom.  He found the only woman who could make his dead heart try to beat every time he saw her still sleeping in bed.  The blankets were still tucked around her snugly and she had one hand under her cheek and the other under her pillow.

Eric sat down next to her and slowly caressed her face.  He still couldn’t believe that Sookie was here and back in his life, let alone that she loved him and wanted to be with him.  He finally had his girl.

“What’s that smile on your face about?” Sookie said with soft eyes and a small smile of her own.

“You,” he said before leaning down with a smile and kissing her nose.  “I’ve got your food in kitchen.  I wasn’t sure what goes where or what goes in the refrigerator so I thought I’d leave that up to you.  I also had Clark pick up a TV for our bedroom and thought I’d install it while you got your dinner together.”

Eric stood and held his hand out for Sookie to take so he could help her up.

“You’re cute, you know that,” she said as she walked/waddled to the kitchen.  “I heard what you did there. Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”

Once she made it into the kitchen, she started taking everything out of the bags and deciding where it would go in the cabinets or the refrigerator.

Sitting down at the bar, Eric spoke. “Is that something you don’t want?”

“I  _do_  want it,” she said with laugh. “It just seems like you’re worried about whether or not I do.  It’s cute.”

“I don’t want to pressure you into anything you’re not ready for, that’s all.”

“Thank you. Now go get that TV ready so that I can snuggle up in  _our_  bed with you after I eat and we can watch a movie or something.” Sookie frowned started putting more groceries away before turning back. “Unless you have work you need to do?”

“No work.  I’m all yours.  We’ll talk about work later and some other things.”

“Great,” Sookie said with a blinding smile. “We sure are coming up with list of things to talk about,” she added with her nose crinkled. “Now go so I can finish!”

When Eric was finished hanging the TV and hooking it up to the satellite and DVD player, he made his way out to the living room. Once he was there, he found a cell phone on the coffee table.

“Sookie is this your phone?” he asked as he came into the kitchen to find her eating at the bar.

“Yeah, why?” she asked after she swallowed her food.

“Have you used it since we’ve been here?” Eric asked as calmly as he could.

“Yes, I called Jason earlier today.  I can’t believe it took me so long to call him. I don’t know what I was thinking.  If there are fairies after me, they could go after him and his kids, too. I had to warn him and I convinced him to go on vacation until the threat is over.”

Sookie stopped talking when she registered the look on Eric’s face.

****[ ](http://i2.wp.com/www.gyllene76.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Eric-42.jpg) ** **

“Eric, why do you look so upset?” she asked, reaching up to touch his face.

“Why?!  Why?!” he asked through gritted teeth.  “Have you not noticed the phone that I’ve given you, placed at your bedside when I have left?  It was not  _your_  cell phone.  It’s a burner phone. One that cannot be traced back to us or used to locate us.”

“I…” Sookie started but quickly stopped as Eric gripped his hair in his hands and started to pace at an inhuman speed through the entire lower half of the house.

“When did you call him?” He asked as he abruptly stopped in front of her.

“Um… around 12:30.  It was at his lunch break,” she whispered. Sookie had seen Eric mad before, but never like this.  Thiswas a mix between mad and, if she had to guess, scared from the look in his eyes.

Eric vamped over to the door that led upstairs and quickly put in his code, locking down the house before he turned the wall ofmonitors on and started going through the footage. At one point, he stopped and retrieved her phone from the bar beforegoing back to the footage.  After about twenty minutes, he opened a drawer that was full of phones, pulled one out, and dialed a number.

“Clark,” he barked out.  “I need you to find out if there is a way a call was traced from either of these numbers,” he said and then read out Sookie’s and Jason’s numbers to him.

Sookie couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  Had she given away their location by calling Jason?  Why hadn’t she noticed that the phone Eric gave her wasn’t even her own?  Tears filled her eyes as she watched as Eric listened to Clark on his phone while looking at different things on her phone.

“Eric,” she whispered with her hand over her mouth.

His eyes softened immediately upon seeing her distress.  He’d been so focused on making sure that they would be safe for the day that he hadn’t registered her through their tie. Holding the phone with his shoulder, he held his arm out and pulled Sookie to him.  Sookie immediately crushed her face into his chest and let out a sob.

“Call me back if you find anything.  It looks good from this end.  It actually looks like someone turned off the GPS locator on her phone…,” he paused as he listened to Clark on the other end for a moment. “I don’t know I’ll have to ask.”

Eric hung up the phone and pulled Sookie even tighter to his body.

“I’m sorry, Sookie. I didn’t mean to upset you.  Everything will be fine. I overreacted,” he said, kissing the top of her head.  “If anything were to happen to you or the baby, I… I don’t know what I’d do.  I can’t let anything happen to you.”

Taking a step back, Eric looked down at Sookie and wiped away her tears.  “Did you see the ice cream I had Clark get for you?  Maybe you’d like to eat some of that while we watch a movie.  I’ve been told that it helps women when they are sad.”

“Where did you hear such a thing?” She asked with a half laugh, half cry.

“Ginger.  She said she used to eat it all the time.”

“It’s not a cure for sadness.  Trust me, I’d know, but it sounds perfect to eat while snuggled up with you in bed. Are you sure you’re done checking all this out?” She asked as she gestured to the wall of monitors and the phones lying on top of the desk.

“I’ve done all I can do for now.  I’ll know more when Clark calls back.”

“Do you think we’re in danger?  More danger than before?” She asked worriedly.

“I hope not.”


	10. Chapter 10

“Good evening,” Eric said, wrapping his arms around her when he opened his eyes to find Sookie snuggled to his side watching TV.

She struggled to sit up for a few moments before Eric carefully helped her. Immediately she began chewing on her bottom lip nervously.

“Fuck, did something happen?” He asked on high alert.

“Not that I know of. I haven’t registered anyone. I kept my shields down all day, even when I slept so I’d know if anyone camenear. I’ve been worried all day that we’d be found. I’m so sorry, Eric. I didn’t know.”

Sookie’s lip started to quiver and Eric quickly sat up pulling her into his lap.

“I know you didn’t. I should have explained it to you. Speaking of your phone,” he said rubbing her back. ” Do you happen to know how the GPS somehow got turned off on your phone?”

Nodding her head, Sookie leaned her head against his shoulder.

“It was Jason,” she softly laughed. “Right after Alcide died I got a new phone. He thought he was turning it on, but with what we found out last night it seems he did the opposite. He never trusted Bill, and was afraid Bill would try something crazy and with how delusional he was in the end I’m surprised he didn’t. I guess it’s a good thing Jason ended up disabling it.”

“Yes, I’ll have to thank your brother for his stupidity,” he chuckled from the top of Sookie’s head.

“You be nice,” she said swatting playfully at his arm.

“I will, however, he isn’t getting his hands on your next phone.”

“What’s wrong with the phone I have now?” Sookie huffed.

“Nothing, but it would make me feel better if you’d let me buy you a new one with more security features,” he stated, looking her in the eyes to let her know how important it was to him.

“We’ll see,” she replied not giving in right away, and laid her head on his shoulder once again.

“What time do you have to leave for work?”

“Never,” he replied simply.

This time it was Sookie who pulled back. “What are you talking about? I don’t expect you to drop everything from your life. Iknow you have a job to do and people who depend on you.”

“You and this baby are my everything,” he vowed, punctuating first with a kiss to her forehead, then her nose, and finally her lips. “I told Pam last night that I was done.”

“What?” She questioned while her eyes filled with tears from his sweet words. “I can’t let you do that. Pam already hates me. Idon’t want to give her another reason.”

“She doesn’t hate you…” He started to say more, but Sookie’s incredulous look stopped him. “Anyway, she was expecting it. Probably even secretly happy about it now that she can replace me. According to Pam, over the last few years I’ve been bad for business.

“Sookie,” he said cupping her cheek. “I’m not about to waste any more of my time sitting on that throne at Fangtasia being miserable for one more night now that I finally have you in my life.”

“But…”

“I already told you that I stayed here for you and no other reason. I’ve made enough money throughout my lifetime and with the interest it’s making, not even Pam could spend it all. I only spent my nights at Fangtasia because I had nothing better to do. Are you getting bored with me already?” He asked with mock hurt.

“I don’t think there will ever come a day where I’ll be bored with you.  You, Eric Northman, are anything but boring,” Sookie spoke, looking at him with more love in her eyes than he had ever seen before.

“It makes me very happy to hear you say that because I plan to spend the rest of my nights with you.”

“Eric,” Sookie tried to interrupt.

“Let’s not discuss your mortality right now. I believe you are meant to live longer than the regular human life span and most probably will with your fairy genes. What I don’t know is how long that will give us.”

Eric saw and felt that Sookie wanted to interrupt and most probably disagree. He placed one long finger against her lips.

“It’s a discussion for another time. What I want to talk about with you is where do you see us once we are sure you’re safe from the fairies?”

“Um,” Sookie started, but then mashed her lips together while she looked at anything but him.

“Sookie?” Eric asked confused.

“I thought together. I thought that’s what you wanted,” she spoke barely above a whisper while tears formed.

“NO! I didn’t mean it like that,” Eric tightened his embrace, bringing Sookie flush against his chest.  “Please don’t cry,” he said in a pained tone when he felt her tears splash against his arm.  “We are together for the end of days.  I will never let you go now that I finally have you.  What I meant is where do you want to live?  Do you want to stay here, be in Bon Temps, or someplace new?”

“That’s what you meant?” She asked with a sniff against his chest.  Sookie felt him nod against the top of her head.  “I’m not sure.  I always thought that I’d live in Bon Temps all my life and although it holds some good memories, there are many, many bad ones too.  I lived with Dirk in my house, the house that you bought and fixed up for me, and it feels so wrong.  Would we live together?” She asked, almost afraid of his answer.  What if he didn’t want to live with her?

“I will be wherever you are, live wherever you are.  Sookie, I know I haven’t explained about bonding, but if you choose to, it will bind us together forever.  It is unbreakable and a stronger commitment than marriage.  I know marriage is or was important to you and I’m not trying to trivialize human marriage.  I will bind myself to you in any and all ceremonies to show the world that you are mine. I want you to understand the importance and symbolization of what bonding means to me and the supernatural world.  It’s more than marriage.  It’s truly becoming one.”

“When are you going to tell me all about this bonding business if it’s so important to you?” Sookie asked curiously.  She couldn’t understand why he hadn’t told her about it.  Did he really think she would say no?

“We are in no hurry, min älskade.  This is something that will have to wait until after the baby is born.  It is important, but it is not something to be rushed. Besides we have other decisions we need to make about our lives, like, where we are going to live.”

Sookie nodded her head in agreement.  “What are my options?”

“Options?  You can live wherever you want,” Eric answered.

“That’s too much. I’ve hardly been out of Louisiana. I’m not the right person to make the call on where to live.”

“So you’re thinking you want to live outside of Louisiana?”  Eric couldn’t tell which way Sookie was leaning.  All he knew through their tie was that she was uncertain.

“I don’t know,” she said frustrated.  “Shouldn’t this be a decision for the both of us, not just me?  Where do you want to live?  Give me some options. Don’t tell me anywhere.”

“Alright,” he replied and started to rub his thumb over the top of her hand.  “Beside the safe houses throughout Louisiana, I have houses in New York, Los Angeles, a farm in Öland, Sweden, an apartment in Paris, a vineyard in Rhone Valley, and a plantation in Barbados.  You can choose any one of those or …”

“Don’t say it,” Sookie interrupted, putting her index finger against his cool, pink lips. “That’s plenty to choose from.” She couldn’t help but notice how his eyes lit up when he mentioned Sweden.

“I’ve always loved the sun,” she said with a grin. “I think I’d like Barbados.”  She watched as he nodded his head slightly and the light in his eyes died a little.  “Does that sound good to you?”

“If that’s where you want to go.”

“Eric,” Sookie sighed as she grabbed his hand in both of hers. “Why do you have a house in Barbados if you don’t like it there?”

“I like it just fine, but to answer your question,  the reason I own that particular property is that it was given to me to pay a debt. I’ve used it a few times over the last two hundred years when I needed a place to hide out. No one expects a vampire to be hiding on an island in the Caribbean.”

“And you’d be fine living there?” She asked skeptically.

“Yes,” he answered tilting his head to the side, his hair falling into his eyes.

Removing one of her hands from the hand she was holding, Sookie removed the hair from his eyes and smiled up at him.

“I don’t want for us to live in Barbados and I know that you don’t either. If we lived there I imagine we’d have less time together because of the sunlight. We’ve been apart for too long and I want to spend as much time with you as possible.”

“I want that too,” he replied quietly before leaning down and kissing her lightly on the lips.

Sookie’s face lit up as she smiled at him.

“I want to say Sweden because I’d love to know the area that you come from, and there is no hiding that it’s where you truly want to live out of all the places you mentioned, but I’ve lived in Louisiana my whole life and I’m not sure that I would be able to stand the cold winters there. ”

“I’ll buy you the warmest clothes that are out there for the cold months and promise to keep you warm.  It isn’t cold there year round but the winters will be cold.  I don’t think children should grow up without seeing and playing in snow,” he replied, spreading his hand across her pregnant belly.

“I already agreed,” Sookie said with a laugh.  “You don’t need to guilt trip me into going. I do have one question though.”

“I’ll answer anything you only have to ask.”

“I know the vampire hierarchy is still a mess here, but I know nothing of Sweden or any other countries.  Will we be safe there?”

Feeling her concern and fear, Eric explained as he rubbed Sookie’s lower back. “Sweden was probably one of the countries that was least affected by Hep V. They have clubs that cater specifically for vampires to feed. The king, who’s a friend of mine, pays anyone who’s a donor quite well and it is mandatory for their blood to be tested weekly for them to continue working.  Also, the countries in the Old World are quite progressive and are much more accepting toward vampires.  It’s one of the safest places we could possibly live. No one will bother us there.”

“If that’s the case then why didn’t you go there when you left there?”  Sookie asked after a low moan escaped her lips when Eric hit a particularly sore spot.

“I was there for a while.  That’s where I was when I caused the avalanche I told you about. Not where we are going, but in Northern Sweden and after I was finally healed enough, I set out to be even more reckless with my life.  There was no way I was going to stay in Sweden where Gedeon would try to set me straight.”

“I wish I had been there for you after Nora had died,” Sookie said quietly.  “I didn’t know until it was too late that it was your sister who was sick. Bill never mentioned it was her. If I had known, I wouldn’t have hidden Warlow in that weird fairy, in-between portal place.”

Eric growled at the mention of Warlow’s name and his hand stopped massaging her lower back.  Sookie struggled to turn around, and finally succeeded only to see Eric’s face taut with a tick in his jaw.

[ ](http://i0.wp.com/www.gyllene76.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Eric-46.jpg)

“Hey,” she said caressing his face.  “I’m sorry to bring up these sensitive subjects.  I wasn’t thinking and I shouldn’t have.”

“You don’t need to censor yourself.  Yes, it’s hard to remember that time in my undead life and I don’t like thinking about you with…”

“Don’t,” Sookie leaned up and stopped him with a kiss.  “Let’s talk about something else.  Something happy.”

“What would you like to talk about?” He asked, relaxing a little bit more.

“When can we move?” Sookie asked with a bubbly excitement.

A slow grin curled at Eric’s lip at seeing and feeling Sookie so happy.

“I missed feeling you,” he said as he ran his knuckles across her cheek.  “I’m not sure when we can move.  We need this business with the fairies taken care of first. I don’t want them coming after you while we are on a farm where there’s no one around for miles and miles, and possibly during the day.  I don’t know anything about pregnancy, but I do know that long flightsover the Atlantic are stressful on the human body and that can’t be good with the baby.  When’s your next doctor appointment? We can ask the doctor when the latest you can travel during your pregnancy is or after the baby is born.”

“You plan on being there for the doctor appointment?”

It was obvious to Eric that Sookie was surprised by his statement, but why would she be?

“Unless you don’t want me to be. Is that what you want?”

“No,” Sookie shook her head.  “No. I’d love for you to be there. I was just surprised that you’d want to be, that you were planning on being there.  It makes me happy.”

“Why would you be surprised?” Eric asked looking down at her confused.

“Dirk never went to any of my appointments or even seemed minutely interested in going. He never cared.” Her eyes filled with tears and she cradled her stomach,  stroking it as if she was protecting it from the knowledge that his father never cared.

“I care, Sookie. I want to be at every appointment.  I want to be a part of this baby’s life. If you will let me, I want to be your son’s father.”

“Eric,” Sookie sobbed out.

“You don’t want me to be,” he stated, bringing his hand up to touch her pregnant belly, but pulled back just before touchingher.

Sookie grabbed his hand, placing it on her stomach.  “I want you to be his father.  I just…”

“Just what?”

Taking in a deep breath, Sookie looked down. “I didn’t think you’d want to be his father.”

“Hey,” Eric said as he lifted her chin with his finger.  “I love you and I will love this baby.  I already love him.  He’s a part of you.”

“You love him?” she whispered as a tear fell.

“I do. I love him and I love you, but I’m going to need your help to do this.”

“Anything.”

 


	11. Chapter 11

During the past several weeks, Sookie had begun noticing how Eric would focus his senses on the baby boy in her womb, how he would zip over and place his hands on her stomach when the baby would start moving after they made a visit to seeDr. Ludwig.

Sookie could see Eric visibly relax once the doctor had proclaimed her and the baby healthy.  The only unsettling news was that Dr. Ludwig didn’t think it was wise for Sookie to fly until at least a couple of weeks after the baby was born.  That quickly faded away after seeing how Eric fell into calling the baby by his name after they had a long discussion on what they would be naming him.  Their baby would be Lukas Corbett Northman.

After hearing the news, Eric had decided that he was being too lax in trying to find the fairies who were after Sookie.  Once they got into the SUV from visiting Dr. Ludwig, he asked Sookie to call her great grandfather to see if he knew anything.  Sadly, Niall knew nothing, but promised he would find out who was after Sookie and that they would be a problem no more.  Eric quickly apprehended the phone and they had a heated debate about which one of them deserved the honor of killing whoever was after Sookie.  Finally they agreed that if they were in the Fae realm that Niall would kill them, and if they were here then Eric would get the honor.

At least they compromised.

Sookie grabbed the phone back from Eric and chatted with her great grandfather during the rest of the car ride back to the safe house.  His parting words before he ended the call were, “It’s good to finally hear happiness in your voice.  The Viking must be very special to you if I can hear it during this most stressful situation.”

Sookie peeked out of the corner of her eye to see Eric’s lips turn up slightly while he looked out the windshield.

“He is, great grandfather. I love him very much.” She smiled and rested her head against the window.  “When this is all over and the baby is born, we are moving to Sweden.  I hope that you will come visit us.”

Niall let out a laugh. “Nothing can stop me.  Well, unless your mate wants to drain me. I’d hate to have to blast him.” He laughed again causing Sookie to wonder if he really did want to blast the vampire next to her.

“I’ll get back to you as soon as I know anything.  You know that time is very different here, so don’t worry if you don’t hear from me for a few days.  I’m sure you’re anxious for this to all be over with and be able to get on with your life.  I look forward to seeing you soon,” he said before hanging up.

Fairies. Almost as bad as vampires with their phone etiquette.

Eric had a small smile on his face after hearing and feeling Sookie proclaim her love for him to her relative, but it quickly fadedwhen he heard a sob escape her throat.  He thanked the Gods that they were home and that he would not have to wait tocomfort her.

Quickly he got to her side of the car, opened her door, pulled her into his arms, and brought her inside.  Knowing that she was becoming increasingly uncomfortable in many positions, he put her down on their bed before he joined her. It had only been a few seconds since he had heard the heart wrenching sound as her cries started.

“Min kära hjärta, tell me what has you so upset,” he pleaded as Sookie clutched his shirt in her small hands.  “Your conversation with Niall seemed to go quite well.  We will find the fairies and Clark has gone to Alabama to find the Were.  We should hear from him later tonight or tomorrow.”

When Sookie only continued to cry and moved her body to get as close to his as possible, Eric did the only thing he could think of to make her feel safe.  He wrapped his long, strong body around hers and held her tight for as long as she needed him.

Resting his cheek against the top of her head, he quietly sang an Old Norse song he remembered from when his mother had sang it to his baby sister.  It didn’t take long for Sookie’s body to relax against his and for her crying to become only silent tears.  Even silent they still made his heart ache.

“Do you think you can tell me what’s going on it that head of yours?” He asked, rubbing slowly up and down her back.

Nodding her head, she pulled back and wiped first her eyes and then her nose on her sleeve before blushing at what Ericmust think of her.

“I’m sorry for losing it on you.  I can’t imagine what you must think.”

“No need to be sorry.  It breaks me to see you cry…”

“Shh,” Sookie whispered against his mouth after placing a soft kiss on his soft, full lips.  Running her fingers over the frown lines on his forehead from his concern, she tried to soothe them away.

Eric schooled his face and gently took her hand in his before dragging his lips over the top of her hand.

“Hey,” she said pulling her hand away.  “Don’t hide what you’re feeling from me.  There’s nothing wrong with being concerned over someone you love.”

He smiled lopsidedly at her. “I have no problem with my concern for you, but you don’t need to be worried for me.”

“Eric,” she said looking at him with exasperation. “It works both ways, buddy. Nothing’s going to stop me from caring and worrying about you.”

“I’m a vampire,” he said with his brows furrowed.  “No need for you to worry about me.  Now tell me why you’re upset because even though you’ve stopped crying I can still feel that you’re upset and afraid.  Do you need a snack or something to drink before you tell me?  Ice cream?”

Sookie laughed hard, holding her belly from bouncing and wiggling around.  Eric was always trying to feed her.  He seemed to think it was the answer to most of her problems.  Truth be told, it did normally make her feel better, but if she ate as much as he thought she needed then she might not be able to move from how fat she’d get.  She was at the end of her eighth month and knew from the books that she’d read that she and the baby would be doing a lot of growing from now until the birth.  She couldn’t imagine being any bigger or more uncomfortable, but she knew it was going to happen.

“No, but thank you for asking.  Maybe later.”

Eric nodded and then splayed his hands across her stomach; feeling Lukas flip around in his mother’s stomach still caused him to be in awe of this miracle, one that Sookie was happy to share with him.

“He’s okay,” Sookie stated and put her hand over Eric’s.

“He is.  He’s a strong boy.”  Placing a finger under her chin, he brought her face up until their eyes met.  With a smile, he encouraged her to stop changing the subject and tell him what was upsetting her.

Placing her head on his chest, she snuggled into him before taking a deep breath. “We may never get to leave if the fairies are not in this realm.  I was gone for all of twenty minutes before and over a year passed by while I was gone.  Lukas could be grown and out of the house before we know anything. I can’t live in hiding for the next twenty years or so, and you sure as hell are not going to want to be cooped up away from life for that long.”

“That’s what has you so worried?” He asked, kissing the top of her head.  When he felt her nod, he held her a little tighter and tried to reassure her about her worries.

“I will hire round the clock guards for the portal. We will know if anyone slips in or out, and, unfortunately, you are correct about the time difference and how it could affect us.  However, I do plan to be away from life to spend all my time with you and Lukas until you get sick and tired of me,” he explained smiling down at her.

Brushing a piece of hair off her face, he tucked it behind her ear, and then kissed her forehead.  “I will call my people that take care of the farm and have them get it ready for us.  You can order any baby stuff you need or we can ship the items over fromyour house. Whatever you want. I will alert the King of when we will be arriving and have the house made as secure, if not more so than this one.  After you and the baby have the all clear from Dr. Ludwig, we will move to Sweden.  I think this is the right move for us.  You are very well known in these parts and the fairies obviously know where to look for you, but no one would guess that you’d be in Sweden.  We will be safe there, and I promise you that you and Lukas will not live in fear or hidingforever.  How does that sound?  Feeling better?”

“Yes, thank you.   Did you come up with that just now?”

Eric shrugged, looking down at her as he ran his fingers through her hair.

“What about Pam and Jason and his family?  He can’t be gone indefinitely.” Sookie took a deep breath when she started to get upset again.

“Pam knows of our plans to move and she is welcome to move with us.” Sookie gave him a questionable look.  “To the country, not to live with us.  As for Jason, you can ask him if he and his family want to move to Sweden.  Again, to the country not with us.”

Sookie couldn’t hide how much she wanted to laugh.  Even if he couldn’t feel it, it was written all over her face.

“I’ve been waiting for you for so long,” Eric said as he nuzzled her neck.  “I don’t want to have to share you or the baby once he’s born, so yes, they may all move to Sweden, but they will not be staying with us.  It’s only going to be our little family.”

“Our family,” Sookie replied pulling him in tighter.  “I like that.”


	12. Chapter 12

Eric wasn’t surprised when he rose for the night to find Sookie’s voluptuous pregnant body wrapped around his cool frame.  Running his long fingers over the smooth curves of her face, he thought about how little sleep she had been getting lately.  With Lukas constantly moving about squashing her bladder, kicking her ribs, and sometimes making it difficult to breathe, Sookie was exhausted.

Easing out of bed with a few leviative moves to not wake her from her peaceful slumber, Eric quickly showered and dressed.

Deciding to surprise her with dinner, he called his youngest progeny. Surely she’d know of a place where he could get her food. He wanted to impress her and show that he could properly take care of his Sookie.

Eric was confident in almost all things, overly so, but after the canned food debacle he had to concede that he knew nothing of modern food. Hell, he barely remembered much about food from his human days. Being a male in those days, he didn’t prepare his meals even when out a-Viking, especially being the son of the chieftain, and then later assuming leadership after his family had been murdered by Russell.

Yes, it may have felt good at the time to kill Russell, but it hadn’t brought back his father, mother, or baby sister.  Eric knew that the twinge in his chest when he thought of them would never go away. It had diminished the all-consuming pain left during his human years to that tight twinge whenever he would think of them, but it never truly left him.

He shook his head from the memories of his human family and back to his … He wasn’t sure what to call Sookie and Lukas.  They were not his vampire family like Pam and Willa. They were simply his family, one he knew he could now not live without.

Gods, what would he do if Sookie didn’t want to bond with him? Eric was unsure if she’d be receptive to  _always_  feeling him after a lifetime of hearing others’ thoughts.

He knew he needed to give her time to decide, and tonight he was going to explain the significance of bonding after she had eaten dinner.

Dinner.

That’s where Willa came in. He needed her advice. Pam had never bothered with humans after she was turned except for the standard feed and fuck. At times, he thought she was worse than him.

Dialing up Willa, he waited for her to answer. Luckily he didn’t have to wait long, she answered on the second ring.

“Eric?” Willa questioned.  “Is Sookie alright?”

Once Sookie had come back into his life, Willa hadn’t heard from Eric but a few times. She had only just risen for the night and thought that Eric would want to be spending the first moments of his night with Sookie, not talking to her.

“Sookie is fine. She’s sleeping. It’s becoming more difficult for her to sleep and rest the further along she is in her pregnancy. I was hoping that you could help me.”

“Sure. Anything you need.”

“I would like to pick up a nice dinner for Sookie while she’s asleep and have it waiting for her when she wakes up.”

“Awww,” Willa breathed into the phone.

“What? Do you think it’s a bad idea?” He asked confused by her noise.

“No, it’s not a bad idea at all. It’s sweet and romantic, not something I would ever associate with you.”

Not knowing how to respond and get Willa to help him, Eric stayed silent.

Maybe it was sweet and maybe it was romantic, but it was for Sookie. Only for Sookie.

Unnecessarily clearing her throat, Willa surmised that Eric wasn’t going to speak.

“I think I know just the place. I’ll call in an order that I know she loves,” She quickly relayed the address to the restaurant and wished him a good night.

Wanting to be back before she woke, but knew there was a possibility that she might wake, Eric wrote her a quick note andplaced it on his pillow before he took off into the night sky.

Once he got to the restaurant, Eric realized that flying probably wasn’t the best way for him to get to Shreveport. Sookie’s food would be cold from his high-speed and the night’s temperature. Asking if there was a way to keep the food warm, the restaurant employee assisting him said they had nothing but what the food was enclosed in other than the insulated bags they used for deliveries.

Not caring about the cost and only that his hopefully-future bonded’s food was warm when she awoke, he left many hundred dollars poorer, but confident that Sookie’s food would be as perfect when she awoke as when he left the restaurant.

All throughout his flight back, Eric probed his weak tie with Sookie to make sure she was safe and if she was awake yet.

He couldn’t wipe the smile from his face as he landed with a quiet thud and made his way inside their safe house. Sookie was still asleep and he was going to be able to surprise her.

Instead of setting up dinner downstairs, Eric decided that Sookie had been cooped up in the house for far too long. Any other time she would have been fighting him about rarely getting to leave. He sat the insulated bag on the kitchen counter upstairs and made his way out into the backyard to the fire pit. After quickly making a fire, he brought the patio furniture, including a table and chairs, to encircle the fire.  Zipping inside once more, he grabbed a couple of blankets and the food before placing them out of view.

Taking one last look to make sure everything looked exactly the way he wanted it presented, Eric had a fleeting thought about candlelight, but the fire would have to do.  As far as he knew there were no candles in the house, and there didn’t need to be with a backup generator that was set to come on  a few minutes after the house was without power.

Never did Eric think he’d be here with Sookie asking her to bond with him. Who could have predicted such an outcome?

Shaking his head, Eric couldn’t believe his good fortune as he made his way downstairs. Plucking the note he left her from his pillow, Eric threw it away before going back to their bed and sitting by his sleeping fairy.

Not wanting to disturb Sookie from her much needed sleep, Eric sat as impossibly still as only a vampire could and allowed his eyes to trace over her figure. Starting first with her long golden hair that was splayed out across her pillow to her long eyelashes that fanned out across her creamy cheeks, her perfect nose, and finally resting them on her soft full pink lips.

He wanted to kiss those lips and run his tongue along them, but he’d have to wait. Sookie and her much needed sleep were more important than his constant want of feeling them on his lips, neck, …

Letting out a small groan, Eric willed his erection down.   _Get used to it,_  he thought to himself and his aching cock.

He made his eyes move on from her sinful lips and down, only to gaze at her well-endowed breasts.

Not helping.

When his eyes landed on her round pregnant belly, Eric kept his eyes locked there as he watched what appeared to be a tiny foot pushing out. His eyes darted to look at Sookie’s face to make sure she was undisturbed, and then back again as he watched who he would soon call his son move about in his tiny confined space. He knew he didn’t need to look to know if Sookie was awake. He’d be able to hear her breathing changing and her heart rate increase when she awoke, but he wanted to be looking into her eyes when they opened tonight.

It didn’t take long of Lukas moving about and kicking Sookie’s insides for her to awaken.  Letting out a small yawn along with astretch, Sookie opened her eyes to see Eric’s endlessly blue eyes looking down at her. She spotted the faint wrinkles around the corners of his eyes from smiling. A smile instantly spread, curling her lips when she noticed the happiness in his eyes.

“Hey,” Sookie quietly spoke with a smile.

“Good evening,”  Eric replied before he ducked his head and placed a soft kiss to the lips that had tormented him earlier.

“What time is it?” Sookie asked wondering how long she’d been asleep if Eric was already up and dressed.

“About an hour after sundown,” he responded automatically.

“I didn’t mean to sleep so long. I guess I was more tired than I thought,”  Sookie stretched and yawned again before curling around Eric’s form.

“You needed it,” Eric was quiet for a moment, hoping tonight ended the way he wanted, with Sookie agreeing to bond with him after they moved to Sweden.

“After you’re done with your needs meet me upstairs,” he said with a mischievous smile. “I have a surprise for you.”

“A surprise?”

“Yes, so hurry up,” Eric replied with a quick kiss and zipping out of the room.

Sookie had never seen Eric so happy except after he drank her fairy godmother down and she doubted he had drained a fairy in the short amount of time he’d been up.

Taking care of her needs as quickly as an almost-nine month pregnant woman could, Sookie made her way up the stairs and onto the first floor of the house. Not immediately spotting Eric, she walked through the house in search of her vampire until she saw a small fire lit in the backyard.

Once she opened the back door, Eric stepped out from the tree line and slowly made his way over to his mate. Taking her small hand in his, Eric silently led her over to the table and chairs, pulled out her seat, and helped her sit comfortably before taking his own.

“What’s all this?” Sookie asked after surveying the changes of the backyard and Eric’s now quiet demeanor.

Taking her hands in his, Eric kissed each before placing them on the table with their fingers laced together.

“I wanted to surprise you with a nice dinner that you didn’t have to cook yourself, and I know you’ve been stuck in the house for far too long. I wanted to give you an opportunity to enjoy being out of the house with the exception of going to the doctor,” he explained.

“That’s very sweet of you. Thank you,” Sookie replied with a beaming smile.

“You deserve so much more than a dinner in a backyard, but until the fairies are taken care of that is all I can offer.”

“It’s more than anyone else has ever done for me.”

Eric silently fumed at the thought of all who had mistreated her throughout her life and couldn’t wait to take her to his homeland where they would be better accepted.

Looking around again, Sookie wondered where the food was. With a longer nap than expected, she was getting hungry. Sookie felt as if she was either always hungry or tired lately and, although she was enjoying her pregnancy, she was ready to have Lukas in her arms and able to start their lives in Sweden.

“Eric?”

“Hmm,” he hummed.

“Where’s the food? I’m getting hungry. ”

Zipping out of his chair and grabbing the food he had hidden, he quickly began removing the containers of food and placing them on the table in front of Sookie. Carton after carton was placed on the table until there was almost no room left to sit anything else down.

“What is all this?” Sookie asked as she took in all the boxes. “Am I supposed to eat all this tonight?”

Sitting down in the chair across from Sookie, Eric scowled. Why had Willa ordered so much food? She would definitely be hearing about this. He wanted tonight to be perfect.

“Hey,” Sookie quietly spoke when she noticed a slight frown on his face.  “I can always refrigerate what I don’t eat and heat it up later. It all smells good.”

Eric nodded, but continued to scowl at the boxes of food.

“Are you alright?” She asked. Eric’s moods were all over the place tonight. He had gone from excited, to quiet, and now upset.It was quite unusual for him.

“I wanted your dinner to be perfect, for tonight to be perfect.  That’s all.” A small almost-nervous smile tipped his lips.

“Then you succeeded. It’s perfect and unexpected. Who knew Eric Northman could be romantic?”

The smile on her face warmed his cold dead heart and decreased his nervousness.

“Certainly not myself. Please eat,” he replied and motioned to the table filled with food.

Sookie ate quietly keeping her gaze on the vampire before her. He sat motionless, his back straight with confidence, but one look into his eyes betrayed that confidence. Those same eyes never left her face.

After one last bite, she sat her fork down, put her hands on her ever expanding belly, and patiently waited for him to speak.

It didn’t take long. Eric’s eye swept the table, and a scowl once again graced his face for a brief moment before he stood and held his hand out for her to take.  Once standing, he silently led her over to a lounge chair and patiently waited for her to get comfortable

Unfortunately it didn’t seem like there was a position that let her body fully relax or get comfortable. Taking matters into his own hands, Eric slipped in behind her, bringing his hands down to her lower back and started to nimbly massage at each knot and sore spot before moving further and further up her back until Sookie laid languidly back against his chest.

Wrapping both arms around her, Eric placed his large hands against her stomach. Stretching his fingers out, he lightly caressed her before taking a deep breath of her scent. If he had thought she smelled irresistible before, now she smelled like a Goddess; there were simply no words to describe how her scent became the most perfect of bouquets, the child within amplifying what was already perfection.

Letting out his breath, he dipped his head to place a kiss amongst her golden hair before resting his cheek atop her head and constricting his arms around her frame with only the barest amount of pressure.

“Are you comfortable?” Eric asked quietly, almost afraid to break the tranquility of the night.

“Yes,” Sookie hummed, snuggling her head further against his broad chest and expansive muscles.

“I would like to explain to you about bonding ourselves to one another. The choice is entirely up to you, and should you agree to grant me this honor, I’d like to finalize our union after you’re comfortably settled in Sweden,” he explained steadily, calmly, if not almost robotically.

“Eric,” Sookie’s head tilting to the side so that she could look up at him. Eric leaned his head against the lounger and looked down at her. “You sound so formal; unless something’s changed, you shouldn’t make it seem like a business deal.”

“The only thing that has changed is the intensity of my feelings for you and Lukas. How badly I want this with you, but I don’t want my feelings to affect your answer. You must decide this for yourself. I will accept your answer regardless of your decision.”

Sookie nodded, and then turned her head back around. “Please tell me about bonding.”

“I’ll tell you what I know,” he said playing with the hem of her shirt. “It is rare for a vampire to bond oneself to another, and with your fae heritage what happens between a vampire and a human could be a somewhat different.  To bond we would needto  _exchange_  blood three times.  We have already exchanged once in my cubby of your house. I am unsure if it will count as an exchange or if it is null and void.”

“Why?” Sookie asked interrupting.

“I could no longer feel you within my blood until only recently. I’m unsure if I must be able to feel you. My connection to you wasdead for many years.  There’s no guide book to follow. I can only go by what I’ve learned throughout the years and speculate.”

“Do you think it will count as an exchange?” She asked quietly.

“My gut tells me… no. There was no trace of my blood within you for many years.”

Sookie could hear the tiniest bit of sadness in his tone. She laced their fingers together before bringing their joined hands up and placing a kiss to the back of his hand. After holding their hands against her heart for a few moments, Eric continued.

“To exchange means that I must take your blood and you mine with the others blood still on our lips. I would hope the last exchange if you choose to do so would be a lovers exchange.”

Sookie could feel what the physical result of that third exchange did to him as she felt him grow against her back. Eric didn’t acknowledge his growing excitement and only kissed the top of her head before continuing.

“With each exchange the strength of our tie would grow, and, after the third and final exchange, you would be able to feel everything that I feel and be able to locate me.  A vampire can close down their side of the bond, but normally a human cannot. That may or may not be the case with you. We can call one another as a Maker can to their child, push feelings toward the other if wanted or needed.”

Eric picked at a spot on the quilt that was directly on top of her belly button incessantly.

“What do you mean needed?” Sookie asked trying to process everything she was learning.

“For example, if we were in a situation where I wanted to warn you I would send you caution, or if you were scared, I could send you calm and reassurance. The point isn’t about having to send emotions during those type of situations, but the honorof feeling one another day or night.”

“What could I feel from you during the day?”

“If I’m in my day death then you would only feel that I’m alive and my location. Although I do believe that if you pushed youremotions at me during that time you could easily wake me.”

“Anything else?” Sookie asked turning her body so that it was sideways in his lap and could look upon him, stopping hisfingers from digging a hole in the quilt.

“Are you nervous?” She asked curiously.

Eric looked up at the night sky and his fingers absentmindedly found her hair and started to twirl it around.

“Hey,” Sookie’s voice came out soothingly as she placing her hand on his cheek and brought his eyes down to meet hers.

“Nervous? Of course I am.”

“Don’t be,” she smiled at him.

“How could I not be?  I’m terrified that you will say no, but it doesn’t matter what I feel. This is your decision.”

“Why do you think I’ll say no to you?” Sookie couldn’t understand why he continued to feel that way.

“You’ve never had the privacy you deserved with being a telepath and I’m asking you to feel my every emotion for the rest of our lives.  I can understand why you wouldn’t want that intrusion.”

“Thank you for letting me decide, telling me the facts, and not making this decision for me.”

“I would never do that to you,” Eric replied vehemently.

“I know and I thank you. Is there anything else about bonding I should know?”

“It is said that if the vampire dies the human bonded goes crazy and soon dies. Depending on how deeply they are bonded together, whether they are bonded out of love or control, if it’s made out of love, which ours would be, then when the human dies eventually the vampire will meet the sun. ”

“No, Eric!” Sookie exclaimed and became stiff in his arms.  “Why would you want that? I can’t have you die because of me.”

Sorrow filled his eyes before looking ahead out into the woods surrounding the property.

“It doesn’t matter if we are bonded or not, I will not want to live in a world where you do not exist. And before you argue with me,” he said looking down at Sookie again. “I do not believe that you will have the lifespan of a human and if you take my blood regularly you could live hundreds of years, if not more. That’s something we should ask your grandfather. My hope is that one day in the very far off future you’ll choose to spend eternity with me.”

“Eric, as much as I want to bond with you I don’t know if I can hand you a death sentence,” Sookie replied sadly.  Her head was spinning with Eric’s revelation that he would die when she did if they bonded.

But he would find a way to end his undead life even if they didn’t bond.

“Then don’t ever die,” he spoke earnestly with sadness in his eyes.

She knew by the look in his eyes that he would indeed find a way to no longer live if she wasn’t on this Earth.

“Can I think about it? It’s all too much and I need time to figure all of this out,” she asked, her eyes rimmed with tears.

“Take all the time that you need.” Brushing his fingertips across her cheek, Eric whispered, “I would wait forever for you.”

With wide eyes, Sookie nodded before she rested her head against his firm chest.

A soft breeze engulfed them as they both remained silent, enjoying the comfortable embrace of each others arms. The fire popped and cracked as tiny red and orange sparks floated high into the night sky.

“Can you explain something to me” Sookie asked as she turned her head to look at Eric.

“Anything,” he sincerely replied, his cool fingers making small circular motions on the pulse point of her petite wrist.

“Before you mentioned that if we bonded it would symbolize our marriage in the supernatural world. I don’t understand how.”

Kissing her temple first, Eric gazed down at his beloved and smiled. Yes, he was unhappy that she didn’t immediately say ‘yes’, but she was being smart and thinking about it, asking questions.

“Bonding is a lifelong commitment, stronger than any human marriage. There’s no divorce. It’s permanent from the moment the bond is complete until the day we die.” Eric explained, his voice calm and soothing.  “That’s why it is very rare for a vampire to bond oneself to a human.”

“Do you know any vampires that have bonded with a human?” Sookie asked.

“No,” Eric shook his head with a soft smile. “Like I said it is very rare.”

Sookie was quiet for a moment as she absorbed this new information. “Anything else?”

“No one may take your blood or my blood without permission from the other’s bonded. In the event that you are harmed or your blood taken without permission, it would be my right and pleasure to end their life.”

Eric’s words stunned her, but Sookie understood. If anyone were to harm him or her baby she would feel the same.

Seeing the expression on her face, Eric quickly continued.  “However, I do not foresee this happening in Sweden, especially where we will be living.  Most people in Europe are very accepting of vampires and vampire-human relationships. And as far as I know, Pam and I are the only vampires on the island and Pam may not even live there.”

“Oh?” Sookie raised her eyebrows with surprise.

“She considers it to be a ‘windy shithole,’” Eric rolled his eyes, and then grinned.  “But I do not imagine her being very far.”

He wasn’t sure if all he had said had helped or was going to hurt his cause, but there was no way he was going to lie to her, not now, not ever.

“I love you, Sookie, and bonding to you is to show you the highest honor that I know.”

Leaning down, Eric’s lips first brushed, and then with utmost care met Sookie’s in the most tender, reverent kiss.

Sookie sat dazed with her fingers lightly touching her lips where she could still feel his lips on hers.  She wished it was possible that she could always feel that perfect kiss on this perfect night, but knew that they had many, many more nights of with even better things to come.

“I love you, Eric,” she said boldly, unafraid now to say the words to him.  The smile that lit up his face only made her want to say it every minute on the hour only to see him so happy.  She only hoped her next words wouldn’t spoil their night or wipe the joy from his face.

“I need time,” she softly murmured.  “I have so much to think about.”

The smile fell from his lips and she could see the hurt in his eyes briefly before she leaned up and kissed first his soft, full lips, and then his chin before wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.  Tears welled up in her eyes at the thought of bringing him pain, but she knew she needed to think through all he told her tonight and make the right decision forher, Lukas, and Eric.  The only thing holding her back was the thought that one day she would be responsible for his death.

“Please do not cry, Sookie,” Eric spoke from the top of her head as he held her to him.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly.  “I love you. Please don’t give up on me, just give me a little time.”

“And I love you,” Eric murmured with his cool lips pressed against her in a soft kiss.  “You have all the time in the world, min älskade. Let us enjoy the night. The stars are bright and the fire is warm. Perhaps later when we go back inside I’ll draw you a nice warm bath. How does that sound?”

“It sounds like the perfect ending to the most perfect night of my life,” she replied against his neck.

“I hope to provide you with many more, min älskade.”

“I know you will,” Sookie spoke with conviction.


	13. Chapter 13

Sookie should have known that all good things must come to an end. Life was going too good for her.  She was in love, had someone who loved her equally, she was about to start a family in just a few weeks, and then move to Sweden. Suddenly, she had all the things she had always wanted and thought she’d never have.

Eric had been ecstatic when he rose almost a week after their bonding talk to find Sookie sitting next to him with a big smile on her face. She was happy, beyond overjoyed, and it brought a smile to his own face. Yes, it was now that easy for Eric to smile.  All he had to do was see his Sookie with a smile of her own.

Although it had been unintentional, things had been a bit strained between them after their talk.  Eric knew that he should be happy that Sookie was taking her time to decide on bonding to him, but he was nervous she’d say no. It wouldn’t be the end of the world, but it meant more to him than he could ever express.

Sookie had been distant and contemplative after that night, and was going to bed even earlier, leaving him to himself for most of the night. But not that night, she was beaming at him and when she said yes, Eric thought his dead heart might explode right out of his chest.  He ravaged her lips as a thank you and a promise.

A promise to always love and honor her.

A promise to protect and cherish her.

A promise that his heart and life would always and only belong to her.

Damn! Eric had wished that he could have made love to her that night and started the bond, but he had to wait until Sookie was ready. Going by what he could feel in their tie though, she was ready.  The only thing that seemed to be a problem was how tired and uncomfortable she was most of the time. Eric also thought she might be a little self-conscience about her body’s current appearance.

The thought of Sookie’s body made Eric immediately and unbearably hard.  Her soft, glowing skin begged to be touched and caressed.  Those firm legs beckoned him and her breasts…

Oh, her breasts.

Eric wanted nothing more than to taste them; to hold and tease them with his tongue and fingers. Sookie was perfection and Eric ached to worship her.

There wasn’t a day that went by that he didn’t tell her he thought she was beautiful, and she truly was.  Even with her being exhausted and uncomfortable, she continued to glow with each passing day into her pregnancy. Eric wondered if it had anything to do with her being Fae.

After that, they went back to spending as much of their nights together as possible, making plans and arrangements for their move, buying baby things online, and just plain, regular conversation. Although they loved each other and were ready to spend the rest of their lives with each other, there was still so much they didn’t know about the other, but they were quickly changing that. Never had Eric shared so much of his life, not even with Godric, but it felt good.

With Sookie it felt right.

Everything was so good, and enough time had passed without anything happening that Sookie was tired of being cooped up in the lower part of the house during the day. Yes, Eric had told her that she could go upstairs, but she was always afraid something would happen. If she had to make a trip upstairs during the day she tried to do it quickly. However, today she wanted to see the sun and maybe watch an animal scurry across the yard; anything but look around at the same walls she’d been looking at for almost two months now. She wanted to feel the warmth of the sun on her skin even if it was through awindow.

Today was a perfect day to relax by the window and let the sun restore her. It was bright outside with the sun’s reflection coming off the snow that blanketed the entire scene before her. Closing her eyes, Sookie leaned back into the chair she had placed by the window.  It wasn’t long until the warmth from the sun’s rays lulled her into a light sleep as she rested her hands ofher pregnant belly.

It felt like only a minute had passed when Sookie woke to the feel of something sharp cutting into her neck.  Before opening her eyes, she quickly tried to assess her surroundings, only to find a fairy in the house and one outside at the tree line.  The moment her eyes sprung open, she was greeted with smiling mouth full of sharp teeth.  Before she could try to conjure up her light and blast the hideous fairy, the fairy snatched up her arm, scrapping her with its long claw like fingernails and popped Sookie out to where the other fairy was waiting.

Sookie tried to fight her way out of the hold of Thing One, but the more she fought, the deeper the knife cut into her neck and its claws cut into her arm.

“We can play…” Thing One cackled.

“with the filthy little…” Thing Two smiled revealing its own sharp pointy teeth.

“breeder whore…” Thing One finished.

Thing Two scanned her body with its beady little eyes before looking up to Thing One with an evil sneer.  “Neave? Look, she’s growing us a filthy little mongrel snack,” Thing Two said as it patted her stomach.

Sookie felt her light starting to gather in her hands and tried to stay as calm as she could while the two evil fairies talked abouteating her baby.

There was no way she was going to let that happen.

Bringing her hands up, she fired off a blast at Thing One from over her shoulder that caused it to fly back with a shriek.  With a chance to run, Sookie took off toward the house. If she could only get inside and lock it down, then she’d be safe.

She had only made it about ten feet when Thing Two popped in front of her and threw its arms around her torso.

Sookie cried out and tried to gather more light in hands, but was momentarily shocked as the back door to the house flew open to reveal a very pissed off vampire.

****[ ](http://i1.wp.com/www.gyllene76.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Eric-promo2-Fangs.jpg) ** **

Sookie watched as Eric vamped out of the house with only his black sleep pants on. Even though it was late afternoon, the entire yard was brightly lit by the sun causing smoke to start rising from Eric’s back while he fought with Thing One only ten feet away.  Standing in shock and horror, Sookie didn’t notice at first when Thing Two started to drag her into the trees. She could only watch Eric as he used his vampire speed to try and catch the fairy.

Having woke to Sookie’s fear, Eric thought nothing of the daylight streaming through the upper part of the house or as he made his way across the yard in only a second to his Sookie.  He was stopped by an enticingly smelling fairy, but knew that he had to keep his head in the game.  It was daylight, and it wouldn’t take him long to start burning. He also knew that fairies could‘pop’ and wasn’t about to let them get the upper hand.  He would lay his life on the line to make sure they never got a chance to take Sookie and their unborn child.

When he finally noticed the first signs that he was starting to burn, Eric was already smoking and his body was rapidly blistering. Knowing that he didn’t have long before his body was engulfed in flames, Eric flung the fairy into a tree causing a loud crack and the tree to sway, creating more cracks.

From out of the corner of his eye, Eric caught a flash of light. He knew what the flash was.  It was a fairy blast.

_Fuck!_

He hoped and sent a brief prayer to his Gods that it was Sookie blasting that fucking vile creature and not the other way around.

Vamping over to the fairy, he grabbed it by its large pointy ears, sunk his fangs to its neck, and gulped down the ambrosia that was it’s fairy blood; fairy blood that he realized didn’t taste as good as he remembered his Sookie’s tasting.  Shaking that thought from his head, his arms squeezed the life out of the fairy as he drained it.  Now that he would be immune to the sun’s rays for an undetermined amount of time, he scanned the area to see that Sookie was nowhere in sight.

The high from the fairy blood was making it hard for Eric to concentrate on what he needed to do.  He knew he needed to find Sookie before the other fairy took off with her, leaving him to never see her again.

He quickly caught the scent of her blood causing him to panic slightly while he dashed into the trees.  He had to be careful, one wrong move and he could be easily staked.  When he caught sight of her, Sookie was pinned against a tree trying to fight her way out of the clutches of the fairy who was trying to sink his teeth into any part it could reach. There were a few scraps along her arms, but what brought Eric to rip the arm of the fairy was when he saw it going for her jugular.

Thing Two threw Sookie into a tree. Hard.  She tried to watch while Eric fought, but she was slowing fading as the black spots kept popping up in her vision until there was only blackness.

Feeling Sookie’s pain, and then her falling into unconsciousness, he missed the swipe of the blade the fairy pulled from out of nowhere. Feeling the silver slash a long gash through his side, he roared with pain both for him and Sookie.

Wishing he could savor killing at least one fairy, but knowing he didn’t have the time with Sookie hurt and unconscious, Eric sank his fangs into the shoulder with the missing arm while curling his hands into claws as he cleaved chunks out of the torso before he ripped its other arm off. Gripping the silver knife by the handle that was made from a material he had never before seen, he wrapped his other arm around the fairy’s neck holding it tightly against his body, and then plunged the knife into its eye.

The fairy disintegrated into dust in his arms leaving Eric free to finally get to Sookie.

Picking her up in his arms and clutching her to his chest, Eric made his way back into the house as carefully as possible. He didn’t want to jostle her and hurt her more.  How had the fairies found them? He knew they may never know, and, right now, he didn’t have the time to think of anything but Sookie.

He needed to take care of his Sookie and Lukas.

Using his vampire hearing, he quickly deduced that everything seemed to be fine with Lukas.  His heart rate was the same, and Eric could see that he was moving around possibly even more than normal.  He wouldn’t be worried unless he stopped moving or his heart rate declined.

No, his sole concern was on Sookie and her unconscious state.

As soon as he walked inside, Eric quickly made his way over to the couch and placed Sookie on it as gently as he could. Looking over her body, Eric saw a many scraps along her arms and a long one down her neck made by the fairy. A few of them were deep.

Why wasn’t Sookie awake yet?  Had the head injury from the tree caused more damage than he could detect?  Should he give her his blood to help heal her and for her to wake?

Unsure what to do, Eric vamped downstairs and grabbed his phone before coming back just as quickly, and then kneeled down in front of Sookie. With his phone in his hand, Eric dialed Dr. Ludwig.

“What is it vampire?  I’m very busy tonight,” Ludwig answered.

“Sookie’s unconscious,” Eric fired.  “Can I give her my blood?  Will it harm our baby?” Eric asked worriedly while he hovered over Sookie scrutinizing every scrap and gash while also listening to Lukas.

In her most annoyed voice, Ludwig asked, “What the hell happened? I swear this day just keeps getting worse.”

Growling into the phone, Eric didn’t care what was going on with Ludwig.  His Sookie had been attacked while he was in hisday rest and was now unconscious.  He needed her to wake up.

“Sookie was attacked by two fairies,” he snarled.  “I only know that she has some scrapes from their teeth and a few are deep. One of the fairies threw her against a tree and she’s been out since then.  Can I give her my blood?” Eric demanded.

“Only a slight amount…”

She kept on talking through the phone, but Eric didn’t hear another word.  He only noticed that Sookie’s body had moved slightly and that her eyes had started to move behind her eyelids.

“Northman! Northman!” Eric heard being yelled through the phone.

“She’s waking,” he absentmindedly murmured before hanging up and dropping his phone to the floor.

Gently he picked up Sookie’s hand and impatiently waited for her to regain consciousness.

“Sookie,” he firmly said.  “Sookie, open your eyes.” After a full minute passed he thought maybe he shouldn’t have hung up on the doctor.

Lifting her off the couch without even moving a hair on her head, Eric took her spot and placed her on his lap before ripping his wrist open and placing it against her slightly open mouth.

It only took a few drops of blood before Sookie’s eyes started to flutter open. After another few drops, her hands closed around his arm as she started to suck.

Eric stared into her eyes as hers locked with his. He sighed unnecessarily when he felt his blood make its way into her system, watching while the scratches and gashes began to heal on her arms and neck and feeling her more fully.

Picking up her hand, he brought Sookie’s arm up and diverted his eyes to the deepest gash before returning his gaze to hers. When she nodded her head, his head dipped and his cool tongue laved over the wound while she continued to drink. Once her wound was healed, Eric moved on to where each scratch had been, cleaning the blood from her arms and neck.

Putting a little more attention to her neck than was necessary to clean it left Sookie panting.  She had long stopped drinking Eric’s blood when his wound closed, but licked where it had been opened as he cleaned the blood from her body.

Having kept a close watch out for her pain, Eric knew she’d only mildly been uncomfortable after she woke. He was relievedthat no severe damage had been made by those fucking fairies.

_I wish I could kill them all over again._

Eric was surprised that he hadn’t gotten the vampire equivalent of drunk from their blood, but figured that it was his fear of what was happening to Sookie that kept him sober. He was unwilling to even think about what it would mean if they popped away with her and took her back to Fairy.

Once every speck of blood was gone, Eric licked his lips before planting kisses all over Sookie’s face. After covering every inch and millimeter, his cool, full pink lips made their way to claim hers.

Only pulling back when she needed to breathe, a smile slowly spread across his gorgeous face. Seeing his smile brought a smile to her own.

“Hey,” she whispered as she reached up and ran her fingers across his face. She could see that he was perfectly fine, but she had been worried about him before she was thrown in that tree and lost consciousness.

“Hey,” Eric replied as one hand went to splay across her stomach.

Noticing that they were in the house upstairs, Sookie’s mind cleared of the last of the fog, and only then thought about taking Eric’s blood.

“Do you think it’s okay that I took your blood? What about Lukas?” She asked.

“I called Dr. Ludwig before you woke and asked her. She seemed to think it would be fine,” he explained, easing her worries.

“I was drinking your blood while you were…” She stopped and fluttered her hand around. “Does that count as an exchange?” She asked, hope evident in voice.

“It does,” he replied, his smile widening.

Sookie couldn’t remember a time when she had seen him smile so wide. She couldn’t get over the wonder that it was because of her, that she could make him so happy. Sookie couldn’t wait until they were fully bonded and finally able to feel him.

Just as she was leaning up to kiss him, she felt a small trickle escape her.

“Help me up,” Sookie said quietly as she tried to raise her body up off of his lap.

Eric was quick to help her when he felt her sudden shift in emotions, but was shocked still when Sookie finally made it up right,and a stream of  _something_  trickled from between her legs and onto the floor.

Sookie’s frantic eyes met his before she spoke.

“I think my water just broke.”

 


	14. Chapter 14

Eric knew that whatever had just made its way down Sookie’s leg and onto the floor was not urine. He’d smelled enough of it throughout his lifetime, but he had no idea what  _that_  liquid was.

Feeling Sookie’s panic quickly brought him out of his musings and face to face with his frightened fairy.

“It’s too soon! I’m not ready. Lukas isn’t ready!” She cried out holding her belly tight.

Sookie was in full-on panic mode. The only thing she wasn’t worried about at the moment was the fairies who had been after her.

Eric started to walk toward the door that led downstairs until Sookie stopped him with her hand gripped firmly on his arm.

“Where are you going?” She asked in a half-pant, half-pained way.

Wrapping an arm around her waist, Eric led Sookie to a barstool in the kitchen and helped her get situated.

“Only downstairs to retrieve your bag so that I can take you to the hospital,” he finally replied in a calming and soothing way.

“Okay,” she replied after taking in a deep breath. “Please hurry.”

Eric retrieved her bag and was back at her side in less than a minute before he gently helped Sookie out of the house and into the SUV that had become their primary vehicle.

There was no way in hell he’d be purchasing, let alone driving a minivan. Despite the numerous times Sookie tried to convince him that a minivan was safer with its many airbags, Eric wouldn’t do it. Besides, his reflexes were far superior than any ‘safety’ feature, although he didn’t see many Corvette rides in his near future.

Noticing Sookie’s strange rhythm of breathing, Eric wasn’t sure if she was about ready to hyperventilate or sneeze. Taking her hand in his, Eric asked if she was okay.  He never knew one simple question could result in such hostility from his Sookie.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” She seethed. “No, I’m not okay!  I feel like my spine is about ready to blow out and…”

Tears.

So many fucking tears.

Eric watched as his normally sweet fairy princess sobbed one minute, and then cursed every male’s existence in the next.

He wanted to argue that he was in no way responsible for her current state, but decided against it. With the evil looks she was giving him, there would be no reasoning with her, and he was afraid she might set her now glowing hands on him.

Knowing it was the pain talking, Eric stayed quiet and pushed the accelerator to the floor. He didn’t know much about women giving birth, but from what Sookie had told him previously, she shouldn’t be in that much pain until she was closer to giving birth.

Not at the beginning.

With that frightening thought now front and center in his mind, Eric sighed in relief as they turned into Ludwig’s warehouse / hospital.

Eric had Sookie out of the car and in his arms before she could register they had even parked. Bursting through the doors, all eyes zeroed in on duo who had almost taken the doors off the hinges.

Clutching her arms around Eric’s broad shoulders, Sookie let out a squeak as they came to a stop in front of a high desk.

“May I help you?” The lone nurse asked as she put down a stack of patient folders by the computer.

“She needs to see Dr. Ludwig immediately,” Eric growled out.

“Sir,” the nurse replied, looking him up and down trying to ascertain how much trouble the man before her was likely to cause. “Unfortunately, due to the full moon tonight, we are currently experiencing a high number of patients this evening so it won’t be possible to see Dr. Ludwig immediately.”

Eric snarled at the nurse but she calmly continued.

“However, I can get a wheelchair for her, and someone will examine her as soon as possible.”

“No need, I will carry her and if…”

“It’s hospital policy,” the nurse interrupted.

Sookie watched the two argue about Eric carrying her until another contraction hit stronger than any before.

Tensing in his arms, Sookie tried to breathe through her contraction, but it was too difficult to concentrate with the bickering going on in front of her.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, if you don’t get me into a room immediately, I’m going to let him drain you!” Sookie all but growled out when her contraction had subsided.

The nurse gasped, but did start to lead them down the hall to a room.

“I see Fairy Sookie had decided to join us,” Eric smirked at the woman in his arms.

“No, In Labor Sookie is here, and if you don’t stop your crap and start being helpful, I’m going to rip off your balls, wait for them to grow back, and then rip them off again,” she snarled out as Eric sat her down on the hospital bed.

Noticing the look of shock on Eric’s face, Sookie burst into tears as she lowered her aching body down to rest on the bed.

“I’m sorry, Eric. I didn’t mean it. I love you so much. It hurts more than I ever expected and I’m so scared! What if there’s something wrong with Lukas and that’s why I’ve gone into labor?” She cried out.

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Eric held her hand in his before shifting his attention to her belly. Through her clothes, he could see her stomach tighten as it contracted, and then somewhat relax once the contraction was over; he listened as he quickly ascertained by Lukas’ heartbeat that he was not in distress.

“He’s perfectly fine, Sookie. Have no fear, dear one. If something goes wrong, I will drag Dr. Ludwig in here by her pointy ears if need be. I will not let anything happen to either you or our son,” Eric vowed.

Hearing Eric call Lukas their son started a fresh round of tears. Luckily another nurse came into the room, and started pulling miscellaneous items out, setting them on a tray before handing Sookie a gown.

“Get changed and I’ll be back I’m a few minutes to see if you’re in labor,” the new nurse said on her way out.

Sookie gaped at the closed door for a moment before she started to get undressed. She hoped she would have a kinder nurse than what she’d encountered so far. This had been a less than positive experience thus far.

After getting changed, Sookie sat back on the bed as Eric stood immobile while they waited for the nurse to return.

Eric watched while Sookie’s hands lit up softly with every contraction. He was unsure if he should or could touch her at the moment.

Sookie’s eyes remained closed as she tried to breathe through another contraction. Eric felt helpless as he stood back, not knowing what to do.  He wasn’t even sure if Sookie knew her hands were glowing, or if it was normal. Well, normal for a fairy hybrid. He was sure that she felt safer and calmer than she had on the drive there.

When the nurse came back into the room, she must have startled Sookie because one second she was resting quietly, and then the next her eyes sprang open as the light left her hands going straight at the unaware nurse.

Luckily for the nurse, she dropped her pen and bent to pick it up just as Sookie’s fairy light would have hit her.

Unfortunately for Sookie and Eric, the nurse left, screaming and yelling that she would not be going back into that room again!

“Oh my God! Did I do that?” She asked horrified as she stared at the charred cabinet in front of her.

Pulling up a chair, Eric sat next to the bed and started to reach out to touch Sookie’s hand, but pulled back at the last moment and placed it on her leg.

Looking at the area Sookie’s light had slightly burned, and listening to the commotion out in the hall, Eric lifted his patented eyebrow.

“That answers the question that you didn’t know your hands were lighting up with every contraction.”

He watched as Sookie looked down at her hands, and then up at him with tear-filled eyes.

Taking a breath he didn’t need, Eric gently picked up one of her offending hands and kissed each finger before lacing their fingers together.

Sookie gave him a watery smile. “Is that why you were just standing there?”

“One of the reasons. First, I’d like to keep my balls even though they will grow back,” he said, smiling back at her.

“Don’t make me laugh,” Sookie swatted his arm, but couldn’t manage to hold in her laugh until another contraction started.

Eric started to pull his hand away, but Sookie’s hand was already lit up and had a death grip on his. Amazingly her light caused him no pain. Instead he felt a pleasant tingling run from his fingertips and up his arm.

Moving his unoccupied hand to Sookie’s stomach, he started to caress her now rock-hard belly, hoping to ease some of her pain. Closing his eyes, Eric continued until the contraction was over.

“What did you just do?” Sookie asked in wonder, opening her eyes only to be startled by seeing Dr. Ludwig at the foot of her bed.

Dr. Ludwig laughed and patted Sookie’s foot before slipping on a pair of rubber gloves.

“What were you thinking when you were connected?”

“Me? Nothing. Only to breathe,” Sookie answered.

“Not you. Your vampire.”

“Oh. Eric?” Sookie said, turning to look at him.

“Only that I wanted to help ease your pain,” Eric answered while he watched the doctor move in between Sookie’s legs and lift the blanket to examine her.

“What you both failed to notice was your light running through one hand and out of his other. If I had to guess, I’d say that your vampire’s innate magic, his love for you, and his desire to lessen your pain somehow used your light to act as a way to ease your pain,” Dr. Ludwig explained.

“Really? Can he do that for every contraction?” Sookie asked in awe.

“If you complete the circuit, and  _if_  your vampire wishes to help take away your pain, then yes, I think I can safely say that you’ve found your miracle drug,” Dr. Ludwig replied, shaking her head in what one might think was annoyance, but was in actuality, awe.

“To see her in pain,” he said, closing his eyes and shaking his head while his hand softly touched her belly.  “I will do everything within my power to help Sookie,” Eric snapped at the tiny doctor.

“Good, she’s going to need all the help she can get. It’s too late for any drugs. If you wanted them,” she said, patting Sookie on the leg as she scooted away from the bed.

“What do you mean too late?” Sookie whimpered, and clutched at Eric’s arm, digging her fingernails into his skin.

“You’re already dilated to an eight, almost a nine. I cannot give you any drugs when you’re so far along. Were you planning on drugs?”

“It wasn’t the plan, but now that I know how bad it hurts, and that it’s only going to get worse… I’d like an epidural or something. Eric,” Sookie called to him desperately. “Glamour her or something. Please. I’m not ready.”

It broke Eric’s undead heart to listen to his Sookie who was always so brave and strong beg him for his help.

“Älskling, if I could glamour her, don’t you think I would have by now? Even if I could,” he stopped and shushed her with a finger against her pouting lips. “Which I cannot, I wouldn’t. You wouldn’t want to do anything that would harm you or Lukas,would you?”

“No, I don’t,” she said with a little pout. “You’ll help me doing whatever it was you did?” She asked as her eyes shut tight with another contraction.

Eric closed his eyes while he continued to rub her stomach and thought of how much he wanted to help relieve her pain. He could feel the tingling sensation run up his arm and out the other while Sookie relaxed through their tie.

Once the contraction was over, they both opened their eyes and met the other, smiling.

“Whatever you’re doing, don’t stop. It’s amazing,” Sookie said, pulling Eric down and kissing him lightly.

“It’s all you, älskling. How far does this dilation go? Twenty?” Eric asked, sitting next to her on the bed.

“Twenty!?” She shrieked.

“Not twenty then. Too low?” He asked, but with one look he hoped that was not the case. “Too high,” he stated somewhat confidently.

“Ten. I thought you read the book,” Sookie half stated, half questioned.

“I didn’t get that far. I was reading about after the baby comes and what I’d need to know,” he said, looking down at her belly. “I have no idea how to take care of a newborn, Sookie, or any child for that matter.”

“Oh, Eric,” she said as her mood swung from anger to loving in point two seconds, hugging herself to him with the best of her ability. “You’re going to be great! I have no worries about you being a father to our baby. Now your abilities as a labor coach need a little work. Tell me of your homeland. Tell me of my new country so that I can picture something other than pain.”

That’s exactly what he did as they worked through each of her contractions and doctor visit until it was time for Sookie to push.

“I’m not sure how well you’ll be able to reduce her pain now.  I’m going to need you to remain calm, vampire! I can’t have any disruptions from you. If you cause any problems, you’ll have to leave. Will I have your cooperation?” She asked, looking from underneath her glasses.

If looks could kill, Dr. Ludwig would be eviscerated on the floor as Eric glared at her with contempt.

Eric’s demeanor did a complete 180 as his gaze shifted over to Sookie.

“I’ll be with you the entire time. I wouldn’t miss Lukas’s birth for anything. I’ll do whatever you need me to do,” he stated to Sookie as he kissed her forehead.

“Keep working your magic, and let me squeeze the living daylights out of your hand,” Sookie replied before squeezing hishand so intensely that Eric was sure his hand would have been broken if he was human.

Sookie continued to push off and on for over an hour, and Eric was now realizing he should have read that book from front to back. He didn’t want to interrupt or upset anyone, particularly Sookie, but how long would she have to push? He couldn’t remember from his human life. The men were banished far from the women giving birth back in his day. What he did know was that he had a little under two hours until the sun rose.

Yes, he could force himself to stay up after the fairy blood wore off, but he didn’t want to be stuck in Sookie’s hospital room, vulnerable for the whole day. He also didn’t want to leave Sookie and Lukas. He would need someone to watch them for the day and he knew just whom to call.

Clark.

“I can see his head. Just a couple more pushes and you can rest, Sookie,” Dr. Ludwig said from between her legs.

Sookie screamed as she pushed with everything she had in her.

Eric had one arm around her back helping her stay upright, and the other pulling one leg back almost to Sookie’s chest.  He could feel how exhausted she was, and hoped the troll doctor was right.  He didn’t know how much more she had left in her. There was only an hour until sunrise and he still needed to make preparations for the day.  He needed to update Pam, and send a message to Clark to be here as soon as he could after sunrise to keep guard over the room for the day while he was at his most vulnerable.

The loud cry of a baby halted Eric’s thoughts as his head swiveled to the right and he saw his newborn son for the first time. Lukas’s skin was a light shade of pink with a sheen of blood coating him, his eyes were scrunched shut as he let out wail after wail, letting them all know that he was finally here.  Eric watched as Sookie held out her arms and waited for the nurse to place Lukas in them.

The nurse placed a naked Lukas on his mother’s chest, and he instantly stopped crying.  Sookie ran her fingertips across his perfect face, down his arm to his little hand, and tiny fingers.  Eric watched in wonder as Lukas grabbed ahold of Sookie’s finger and held on.  He smiled as he looked up at Sookie and saw her bright smile and tears running down her cheeks.  He had never felt or seen her happier.

Hell, he had never felt more fulfilled in his undead life.

And this was just the beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank Meridian for helping me with this chapter and the idea of using Sookie’s light to help her with the birth of Lukas.


	15. Chapter 15

Eric rose to Clark’s gruff voice being anything but gruff. It was slightly higher pitched than normal and his words made zero sense to the vampire. If he wasn’t mistaken, what he heard was what humans called ‘baby talk’ and something he would  _never_  do.

Ever.

Keeping his eyes closed, he listened with the thought of using this moment as blackmail against the Were if he ever needed it.

“He’s beautiful, Sookie. If I didn’t know any better I’d think Northman was his father,” Clark said softly. Genuinely.

“He is and will be in the only way that matters. But I’m sure he will love that Lukas looks so much like him. I don’t know how it happened. Dirk was the complete opposite of Eric in every way with dark brown hair and eyes, he was I guess what people would call stocky. I’m blonde but I’m by no means tall. I don’t know how Lukas is already so tall with blue eyes, but I’m thankful that he’ll look nothing like his sperm donor,” she said with conviction.

No longer able to pretend to be in his day rest after hearing and feeling Sookie’s words, Eric sat up slowly so as to not startle her.

He was on a cot at Sookie’s insistence since she wouldn’t let him go to his dayrest on the floor. He had waited until he knew that both Sookie and his son were both cleared by Dr. Ludwig, and that Clark, had arrived before he died for the day. Still, he hadn’t wanted to die for the day and leave them alone for the next eight hours, and had fought the urge until the bleeds had brought tears to Sookie’s eyes.  Her tears, and her hands glowing from her distress, were what had finally persuaded him to succumb to the sun’s pull.

Quickly evaluating his now fledgling bond with Sookie, Eric could feel that she was slightly tired and that her love for their son was radiating so strongly that he couldn’t help but smile.

When Sookie saw Eric slowly and quietly rise she couldn’t repress how happy she was that he was finally up for the day. Maybe now she could get out of that God -forsaken hospital. The nurses hadn’t left her alone all day long, and now she just wanted to relax in her own bed with Eric and their son.

“How are my two favorite people?” Eric asked as he leaned over to thoroughly kiss Sookie before placing a much softer kiss to Lukas’ forehead.

Unable to control her emotions, Sookie smiled and sobbed at the same time. She had never been happier and knew that life was only going to get better. Now she and Eric could bond, once she worked up the nerve for him to see her naked again, and they’d all be moving to Sweden as soon as she got the all clear from the good doctor.

Everyone but Willa had immediately replied that they would happily move. Pam was going to live in Stockholm, but the rest were going to live in Öland – on the other side of the island for privacy, of course, but still close. Eric had arranged a house for Jason and his family as well as one for Willa after she decided that Louisiana had nothing left to offer her and that she wanted to keep building her relationship with Eric (plus being Auntie Willa was too much for her to pass up).

Although things had been amicable between Sookie and Pam, she was still wary and was happy that her  _friend_  would be there with her. Eric had assured her that Pam was only concerned that he would be hurt if Sookie left him. Once she saw that Sookie was a permanent fixture, she’d let down her guard.

Sookie could understand Pam not wanting Eric to be hurt any further. They had almost lost him and she couldn’t bear to think of hurting Eric ever again. Eric was planning on forever and so was Sookie; she just didn’t know what form she’d be in to reach forever with him. That was one thing she knew she needed to talk to her great-grandfather about when she finally got the chance.

Sookie wasn’t sure if the vampire way of life was for her, but she was sure that she wanted Eric to always be in her life.  It wasn’t like he could turn into hybrid fairy-human for her. She would find a way to stay with him until the end of their time together even if that meant she had to become a vampire and lose the sun. Nothing was more important than being with Eric.

Her future bonded.

While Sookie smiled and sobbed, Eric wrapped her in his arms and held her until she was back to herself. He wanted to ask when her hormones were going to settle now that she was no longer pregnant but knew that would be a bad idea. She had cried so much during their time together at everything and nothing that he was almost comfortable with it. Well, he wasn’t close to being comfortable seeing her tears or feeling her tremulous emotions, but he was trying to get used it – not that he wanted to, but it was quite common for her to be laughing one moment and then crying the next. Considering how uncomfortable she had become combined with how little sleep she’d been getting, Sookie was in need of more company than he had been able to give her.  She needed more interaction with people than just talking with them on the phone, and actual rest that he could ensure during his waking hours.

“We’re both good, but I’m ready to go home and rest but I want to see everyone too,” she said nervously.

Was she afraid he wouldn’t let her? Surely she didn’t believe he’d keep her from her friends and family now that she was safe, did she?

“Then your wish is my command. Who would you like to see and where would you like to visit them?” Eric asked soothingly with a theatrical bow in an effort to allay her fears.

[ ](http://i1.wp.com/www.iamgyllene.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Eric-bowing.gif)

He knew he was successful when her tinkling laughter broke out and a smile bloomed across her face. “I’d like for Jason, Bridgette, and their girls to see Lukas, and I want Willa to see him, too,” she said and then scrunched up her nose and looked down at lovingly at Lukas. “Pam, too, if you think she’d like to see him.  Eric,” she spoke quietly as if she didn’t want anyone to hear her. It was almost as though she had forgotten Clark was a Were with hearing superior to hers.  He felt his lips start to tip up into a smirk until he heard her next words. “Does Lukas smell good, too good?”

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Eric wrapped an arm around her shoulders and then looked down with what could only be described as wonderment and love in his eyes. Never before had he believed in love at first sight, but the moment his eyes made contact with the tiny bundle in Sookie’s arms, he was indeed in love.

Leaning over this time, he let his smirk spread as he teasingly sniffed Lukas’s head. His finger caressed his son’s little hand and he still couldn’t believe how soft a baby’s skin was.

Maybe Lukas was just special.

There was no way any other baby on the planet smelled as good, felt as soft, or looked as peaceful, as his son.

[ ](http://i0.wp.com/www.iamgyllene.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Lukas-baby.jpg)

Right then and there, Eric knew he would die protecting them.

Turning his head until he made eye contact with Sookie and seeing her worried expression, Eric knew he had to ease her fears and quickly before her pesky hormones came into play again.

Looking back down he spoke, “I never knew a baby could spell as good as he does, but no, he does smell ‘too good’ as you put it.  I was under the impression that all babies smelled of shit.”

Sookie couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Here she thought vampires would want to eat her son and they were expecting him smell like a dirty diaper all the time.

“I suggest that we don’t let Pam get too close and let her to continue thinking he’ll smell bad,” he said with a chuckle.

“But I want her too like Lukas, not to think he’s some stinky baby,” she said with a pout.

Eric could feel her emotions start to become erratic and knew he needed to stop her from getting upset before it happened.  Sighing inwardly, he could only hope that he didn’t muck anything else up with her while her hormones were out of control.

“I was only joking,” he replied but by the look on her face Eric could tell she did not appreciate his little joke. Sookie had been worried about how she and Pam would get along after the move.  “It was a poor attempt and for that I’m sorry. I don’t want you to get your hopes up though. This is Pam we are talking about.  She’s not exactly fond of humans let alone babies.  Give her time if she is not immediately taken with him.  I don’t see how anyone could resist this face.”

Hearing Clark in the corner snickering to himself, Eric turned to glare at him only to find Dr. Ludwig walking into the room.

“It’s about time you rose for the day. This one,” she said while thrusting her thumb toward Sookie, “has been quite anxious to get out of here. You’d think we were treating her poorly.  As if,” she scoffed and started to write on a chart.

“Are they both healthy?” Eric asked with apprehension.

“Very healthy,” the tiny doctor replied. “The blood you gave her after the attack continued to work and almost healed her entirely from the labor.  She’s getting around much quicker than a woman who’d just given birth would be.  She has no tears and her blood pressure is normal.  Lukas passed all his tests with flying colors and can be discharged as soon as you are all ready to go.  If there are any problems, call me.  We’ve already set up an appointment for his next checkup and after that you should have the all clear to fly.”

Eric’s eyes immediately went to his smiling Sookie.  He couldn’t believe how excited she was to move to Sweden. Every time he felt her excitement it made him feel alive and desperately elated that he had been cured of Hep-V and stayed in Shreveport to be near her.  He had forever with her now and looked forward to the night of their bonding.

_When had Eric Northman gotten so mushy,_  he asked himself as he shook his head. If he was honest with himself it was the night that his little fairy stepped foot into his bar all those years ago.

“Eric,” Sookie called out. “Are you with us?”

“Right here. I was just thinking of a location where we could all sit down and you could chat with your friends and family.  I have a restaurant on the outskirts of town that I think would do nicely for everyone involved.  If you give me your phone I’ll text your brother the address along with Willa and Pam.”

Letting his gaze slide over to Clark, he looked him over and decided to extend the invitation to the Were.

“Clark if you’d like to join us I’m sure Sookie would be happy to have you,” Eric spoke as his fingers flew across the phone giving the address and directions to the restaurant.   He’d be happy once they were home and he didn’t have to share Sookie or Lukas with anyone for a few days. Yes, he was being irrational. He knew that he’d just spent almost every minute of every night since Sookie came back into his life, but he didn’t care.  All he could think about was getting them home safely and into his arms. Maybe even snuggle, but he would never admit to anyone how much he loved to hold Sookie in his arms and bury his nose in her hair or the crease of her neck. Although he was pretty sure Sookie knew. Sookie knew…she’d woke up enough times with him wrapped around her to get the idea.

“You are more than welcome to come, Clark,” Sookie said giving Eric a sly smile.  She knew that he was appreciative that Clark had stayed with her and Lukas for the day when he couldn’t, but thought he was too manly or vampirey to say anything.  Just being male was bad enough, but add being a vampire into the mix and it became almost impossible to understand them.

Rubbing his eyes with his fist, Clark smiled at Sookie. He really did like her. She was a sweetheart, but somehow Northman always seemed to call him when he’d been up the whole night and was finally making his way to bed.  He didn’t want to disappoint Sookie but he needed to make his way home, take a shower, and sleep for the next twelve hours.

“I’d love to, but I’m tired. Maybe another time,” he replied and started to stand up, but upon seeing her smile start to slip, he continued, “I’m sure I’ll see you before you move.  Call me if you need me,” Clark said before slipping out of the room.

“He couldn’t get out of here fast enough,” Sookie said while laughing.  “I guess I wasn’t very good company.”

“I’m sure your company was fine. I think it had more to do with my presence and the fact that he was really tired. Why don’t I go and get the car and bring it around front then we can leave.  I’ve already made arrangements for the restaurant to only be open for us. There’s no need for Lukas to be around a bunch of people.”

Holding her hand out, Sookie waited for Eric to place his hand in hers before bring him close enough to grab his t-shirt so that she could pull him down for a kiss. “Thank you,” she whispered against his lips. “I can’t even express what I’m feeling right now.  That you’re going to be Lukas’s father, that you looked out for me all those years, and that you came when I needed you. That you accepted me when I was pregnant with another man’s child. That you still loved me after all that I’d put you through. I love you, Eric Northman, and I can’t wait for the next step of our lives to begin.”

Ignoring that his eyes were rimmed red, Eric smiled down at his Sookie.  “Good! Our next step is for eternity.”


	16. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All I can say is I’m sorry it has taken me this long to get a chapter out to you. My life has been crazy busy and it still is. Add on top of that my allergies have never been worse. My eyes having been burning for months and the only meds that work make me a zombie. I hope you all enjoy the ending for Eric, Sookie, and Lukas in Black Friday. Up next I’ll be working on the next chapter of Lovers Always. At least that is what I’m hoping. My muse has been MIA for quite some time on that story. I’ve got a lot of things that need to work together and my muse got scared and has been hiding in the corner. If it refuses to give me any ideas on Lovers Always hopefully there will be some for At That Moment. Don’t give up on me. I’ll eventually write my stories.
> 
> This has not been beta’d so please excuse all mistakes. I wanted to get it out to you as soon as possible since I made you wait so long. Virala did her cheerleading job and Meridian helped me when I was down about my chapter taking so long and came up with the line that we both love at the end. I had to work it in. Love you both lots like jelly tots!

 

Sookie stood at the window that overlooked their expansive backyard while watching Eric and Lukas play. They'd been outside from almost the moment Lukas took his last bite of lunch. He was in a hurry to get outside and roll around in the snow with his dad. They'd already had a snowball fight using all the snow forts they'd made over the last couple of months to hide from one another. Every once in a while Sookie would hear a loud shriek come from her son to then see Eric swoop in, throw him over his shoulder, and then fly around the backyard to then set Lukas down on the other side of the yard. She wasn't sure what the rules were to their game, but it didn't matter, it still caused a large, bright smile to spread across her face as she watched and listened.

Even though she was happy to see the two most important people in her life having fun, Sookie was still a little sad. The polar nights were almost over and they'd be heading out tomorrow.

It had taken Sookie a good two years to acclimate to the cold temperatures of Sweden. Lukas loved it from the moment they stepped off the plane. Most babies would have sucked in a cold breath and cried, but not her son. No, he seemed adamant from the start to be just like his daddy even if he wasn't his biological father

If it were possible for Eric to have pictures of what he looked like as a little boy, Sookie was positive that he and Lukas would look exactly alike.

With each day, Lukas looked more and more like Eric then the next. They didn't know how it was possible and had even called in Dr. Ludwig for her to try and explain it. Her only answer was magic. My fairy magic and Eric's vampire magic somehow did the unexplainable.

The result.

One proud papa. Sookie thought Eric would want Lukas to call him fader but once Lukas smiled his big toothless grin at Eric and said papa there was nothing else he could ever call him.

English was rarely spoken in their house unless Jason was over. Even after living in Sweden for over four years he still hadn't learned but a few words and most of them were swear words at that. Sometimes Sookie wondered how he managed as well as he did, but figured he relied on Bridgette when he didn't understand what someone was saying. He was lucky that almost everyone spoke English. Seriously what was with most American's only knowing one language when there were so many countries where they knew multiple languages?

Sookie and Lukas were both fluent now in both Swedish and Norwegian although Lukas was slightly better than her at Norwegian. After a couple of years of getting used to the cold, having a baby, and being bonded to a thousand year old vampire they decided to buy a house in Longyearbyen so that they could experience the constant nights together. They would leave a week before it would turn dark twenty-four seven for the next two months and normally they'd stay another couple of weeks, but this year they had to get back. Willa had met a nice man when he was on vacation in Sweden the first time Eric and Sookie had been enjoying the long nights, and now she was going to get married. Willa knew how much the whole Northman clan enjoyed their time away and hadn't wanted to cut into it, but she couldn't wait any longer and had set the date for only a couple of days after the polar nights were truly over.

Sookie was beyond happy that her friend had found someone and had grown quite fond of her friend's soon to be husband, Mauricio. Tomorrow they'd leave their second and truth be told favorite home and head to Italy for their elaborate wedding. Just thinking about Willa's wedding, Sookie couldn't help but think of her own and how different they were.

Eric and Sookie got married in Öland by the water on their property. Even though it was one of the warmest days of the year once the sun had set the air immediately started to cool. It was simple with only Eric, Sookie, Lukas, Jason and his family, Willa, Pam, Niall, and Clark only in attendance. The guests were not dressed up and stood through the ceremony to then enjoy the rest of the night chatting, eating, and dancing underneath a large tent lit by thousands upon thousands of fairy lights. It was one of the best nights of Sookie's life. It followed the birth of Lukas and the night that she and Eric made their bond permanent.

Pam had even become specially ordained by the Church of the Loving Spirit so that she could be the one to officiate their pledging that occurred simultaneously with their wedding. Nothing had surprised her more than when Eric asked her to pledge the ceremonial knife the night they bonded to then get down on bended knee and asked her to marry him. Well except that Pam wanted to perform the wedding herself. Luckily she left the planning to Sookie, who had both Willa and Eric's help. More than once Eric had to use one of his many connections so that they could plan a wedding in only a couple of months. They didn't want to wait and Sookie had wanted to be married outside on their property so they decided to get married before the end of the summer.  Sookie thought it would be easy to plan a simple wedding, but found it difficult to do in the summer in Sweden.

All the company's hours were reduced and made it difficult to contact them when Sookie was up until dawn most days and taking care of a baby. After Eric rose one too many nights to his lovely bonded cradling Lukas and crying, he promised to do anything to help facilitate the wedding. After that, all the planning was smooth sailing. Imagine that. Eric Northman getting what he wanted.

Sookie had stopped watching her boys having fun and had gone to her and Eric's bedroom to start packing. She didn't want to waste any time she could spend with her boys and wanted to finish up before they were done outside. She was so wrapped up remembering all the fun they'd had the last two months that when cold, very cold arms wrapped around her middle she let out a shriek that Sookie thought would most probably break the glass on most normal windows. Luckily they didn't have regular ole windows. No, Eric had outfitted their homes in both Öland and Longyearbyen with special UV windows so that if he was awake and the sun was up he could be anywhere in the house with his family. Of course there were also metal shutters that could come down with only a simple touch of a button and if Sookie thought the safe house Eric had prepared for her back in Louisiana was fortified then when she heard Eric go over all the ways he had ensured their safety she knew they never had to worry about anything safety related while at home. Besides having the walls lined with silver, mercury, and iron, the alarm system seemed to have magic also. You had to do a hand and eye scan plus put it a code. What got Sookie was that somehow the alarm system could detect if someone's hand or eye had been removed and used to try and break in. It went by temperature, but what she couldn't understand how that worked on vampires since their bodies were cold by nature. Again somehow that alarm system knew if there was vampire blood slowly circulating or not. Truly it was mind boggling. Sookie didn't understand it, but Eric assured her that it could do everything he has promised and she knew Eric wouldn't lie or make a promise to her that he knew he could not make. On top of all that Eric had hired a world renowned witch that lived in Germany to come and put multiple wards on the houses. First this was all done before they had moved to Öland and then when they bought their home in Longyearbyen. As far as Sookie knew they'd never had any problems, but they were prepared for the long haul.

And it was going to be a long, long haul. One that Eric was happy to rejoice in when they finally met with Niall.

Sookie had called and left a message for her great-grandfather, but it took a good three months before they heard back from him. Sookie expressed Eric's concern of her mortality, and Niall only laughed before saying he had a few things to wrap up, but would see her at her wedding and not to worry.

On their wedding and pledging night, Eric and Sookie received the best wedding and never even saw it coming. Once the festivities had died down some Niall took both Sookie and Eric into the house and sat them down. Sookie was still beaming off the euphoria of marrying and pledging to Eric. She was now Sookie Northman and had the same last name as Lukas. She was proud to be a Northman and knew she'd never do anything to tarnish her husband's name.

With a smile almost as big as Sookie's, Niall leaned forward taking both of Sookie's hands in his and informed them that with Sookie's essential spark and if she regularly took Eric's blood then she would hardly age at all and could very well live to see a thousand years with her husband by her side.

Eric didn't care about proper etiquette, he didn't think he'd ever heard better words spoken. That was until Lukas called him Papa for the first time. But in that moment he found out he wouldn't lose his Sookie in just a few decades and she didn't have to lose her sun. Although she was willing to do anything to be able to spend forever with her Viking.

Eric whisked Sookie from her seat and into his arms before kissing her unlike ever before. With one hand on the small of her back and the other tangled in her hair, Eric didn't stop pillaging her mouth until she needed to breath. Just when they thought life couldn't get any better, Niall blew their minds once again after clearing his throat and gesturing to the couch.

Reluctantly, Eric moved them both back in front of Sookie's great grandfather instead of vamping them to their bedroom and consummating their newly formed marriage. That was one human tradition that he was happy to follow. He had plans and they entailed the rest of the night. He wasn't going to let his wife rest until the sun was rising, she was so sated she'd feel like her bones had turned to liquid. That's how he wanted to spend every night, but that was rarely possible being parents to a newborn, but they used their hours wisely.

"I know you've both been wondering why and how Lukas looks so much like Eric and although that remains a mystery to even me, I can tell you that his essential spark is strong. Even stronger than yours, my dear granddaughter. It is unknown what magic's he might possess as he grows older, but he will also live a long life," Niall informed them.

Instantly tears welled in Sookie's eyes. "How long," she whispered.

Niall's smile softened and he once again leaned forward and took only one of her hands. The Viking had hold of her other and didn't look like he would be giving it up anytime soon. "I cannot say exactly. From what I can read from his spark I'd say he'll live as long as any fairy of my blood would" Sookie gasped and her hold on Eric's hand tightened to the point Eric could have sworn he heard a bone creak.

"The strength of his spark is truly remarkable. I've never seen anything like it. I thought he'd be lucky to have the spark at all, but to surpass the strength of yours and many other hybrids that have more fairy blood in them then he does just boggles my mind. If I didn't know any better I'd think that he made himself look like the Viking and his spark as strong as it is. If that was even possible which it's not," he said looking slightly confused and doubtful.

For now the two parents would be happy that their son was going to live a long life without any interference and worry at a later date about what magic he could possibly come into some day.  That night was for celebration and celebration only. Eric quickly ushered his happy bride back outside to the tent to find Lukas.  He needed to see and feel him after hearing such wondrous news.

Shockingly they found their son on the dance floor in Pam's arms smiling up at her as he swayed him around at human speed and cooed at him. Yes, Pam had fallen for Lukas and it had only taken until the first time she saw his first toothless smile.  She wasn't around much since she lived in Stockholm and traveled quite a bit as she hit the fashion circuit, but when she was Pam tried to repeatedly steal baby Lukas from the arms of whoever held him and at night that was mostly Eric.  To say that Lukas was spoiled would be an understatement, but since he was likely to be their only child unless they adopted, Eric and Sookie saw nothing wrong with it.  They would teach him respect and to do right and wrong, but he would also know that his parents loved him unconditionally so who cared if they were constantly holding him.

Pam stopped swaying when she saw Sookie's eyes brimmed with tears and quickly glanced at her Maker, who had a wide smile on his face.  With Pam trying to figure out what was going on, Sookie scooped up her son and placed kisses all over his face as he smiled, cooed, and tried to give his own sloppy kisses back.  After a couple of minutes of watching his bonded shower Lukas with kisses and hug him to her body, Eric engulfed them both in his arms and started to dance them around the dance floor in a slow dance.  They both ignored the few guests that they had invited to their wedding and only had eyes for their small family for the next few songs.

Eventually, Pam had had enough since she was set to leave for Paris the next night and snatched a clearly happy Lukas from his parent's arms.  Her and Eric had a deal and she watched Lukas until it was almost dawn (something she was only too happy to help with) and she was adamant that they stick the plan. Pam was going to miss him while she was away.  Facetime just didn't cut it.  She couldn't smell his unique baby smell or receive any of his sloppy baby kisses that she secretly loved receiving.

After their perfect wedding night, Eric, Sookie, and Lukas fell into an easy routine of family time during Lukas's waking hours and when he was asleep their time was definitely not family time.  It was spent in one or more rooms of their house naked and worshipping one another.  Sookie was afraid that with businesses to run or sheriff duties that Eric would eventually get bored living on their farm which kept them pretty isolated, but it never happened.  Instead each night she could feel how happy he was to be spending time with his son and wife.

They didn't always stay on their farm. No, Eric took them all over Europe for vacations and for his family to see the world that he could provide for them.  Eric was shocked that Sookie was so open to letting him buy her and Lukas almost anything that he wanted.  Before they had gotten together and she lived in Bon Temps, he never thought he'd be able to whisk Sookie away to another country for a week without kidnapping her and never hearing the end of it.  To say that Sookie was stubborn and set in her ways was a mild statement to say the least.

Worry flooded through Sookie causing her to snap out of her thoughts and look into Eric's concerned gaze.

"Sookie," Eric said for the fifth time squeezing her upper arms where he had grasped after startling her and Sookie's thoughts had drifted off. He had been feeling her emotions swiftly changing from happiness, to thoughtful, and then sadness while he had been outside enjoying their last night in Longyearbyen with Lukas. He knew how every time they left after the Polar Nights were over she was a little down. Hell, they all were, but it had never been this bad before.

Could those extra two weeks that they stayed normally mean that much to his bonded? Was it possible that she liked the time they lived in Longyearbyen more than their farm in Öland? It was possible it was a very quaint town. If his family wanted to move he had no problem living there or anywhere they wanted to go unless it was back to the States. No way was he moving back there after enjoying how unprejudiced his homeland had been.

"Why have you been upset?" he asked quietly.  "One minute you're at the window smiling at Lukas and I and the next it’s as if any moment you could cry. You had me worried when you were so lost in thought. Nothing has happened, has it?"

Eric moved his hands from holding her upper arms to cup her face between his large hands.

"No," she said as she shook her head as best as she could while in his grasp. "Nothing's happened and nothing's wrong. It's silly, but I don't want to leave. I'm happy that Willa's found someone and getting married, but…"Sookie stopped talking and looked down briefly before meeting Eric's eyes once again. "I'm going to miss you.  Sometimes I wish that it was night all the time. Lukas and I enjoy our time here with you more than I can express."

"Sookie," Eric tried to interrupt, but Sookie shook her head and continued to talk as she took one of his hands and held it with both of hers against her chest.

"Don't feel bad," she said, her head still shaking. "I know there's nothing anyone can do about it. I love who you are and I should be more grateful that I get these two months of while we’re here. I'm greedy of my time with you that's all. I'll be fine once we're in Italy and I'm immersed in all things wedding. I promise," she said with a small smile looking up at him.

Bending down, Eric kissed her soft, full pink lips with a gentle caress before he wrapped her in his arms and squeezed her tight.  “If I were in your shoes, as little as they are,” he joked, causing them both to smile for a moment. “I would miss you too.”

“Are you bored? Is Lukas?” he asked after a few minutes of quiet contemplation.  “If you won’t miss your family too much we can live here for a majority of the time and during the midnight sun we could go back to Sweden or travel.  Whatever you’d like to do. I don’t care where we live and I’d like to show you and Lukas more of the world now that he’s likely to remember it. Think about it.”

“I will,” she said with a smile creeping across her face. “I have to say that I do like the idea of being here more and traveling. Are you bored?” Sookie asked the last part hesitantly.

“There hasn’t been a night in my life that I’ve been bored since you walked into my life,” Eric responded, pulling back to look down at her.  Sookie’s eyes teared up as she felt his sincerity. “I’ve been alive for a long time and I’m enjoying my family while I can. Life won’t always be as it is now and Lukas is growing up quicker than you and I would like.  I’m happy and content. Something I hadn’t been for a very long time. Don’t worry about me and I promise to let you know if I ever become bored. Now,” he said looking around the room that was almost packed. “I have thoroughly tired out our son giving us a few hours all to ourselves before we have to leave.  Why don’t you get Lukas settled down while I finish packing?”

Sookie watched as Eric’s eyes became half-lidded as his gaze traveled from her eyes and then down her body.

“Only a few hours?” Sookie teased as she slowly backed out of the room.  “We’re going to busy for the next couple of nights and I don’t think a few hours is going to be enough.”

“Sookie,” Eric growled as she slipped out of the room. His wife was deliberately trying to get a rise out of him with her teasing and it worked. Eric wasn’t going to stop, but he might as well have a little fun first.

Following Sookie out of the room, Eric found her bending over to pick up a few of Lukas’ toys off the ground.

“You’re right, of course,” he said as he admired the view. “A few paltry hours would never be enough, so perhaps we should take a raincheck and put our focus on something else like-”

The toys in Sookie’s arms dropped to the ground as she stood up then turned to face Eric.

“Like what?” she asked, barely containing her grin.

Eric shrugged and took two steps toward her.  “Balance the checkbook or catch a rerun of ‘My Fair Vampire.’  I know how you much love that movie.”

Sookie rolled her eyes then scoffed before looping her arms around Eric’s neck.  Her body molded perfectly to his.  “Don’t you even think about it, mister.”

“Don’t think about what?” Eric asked innocently, while his arms snaked not so innocently around her waist.

Sookie nipped his bottom lip which elicited a low growl from Eric.

“I don’t care if we have two minutes or two hours. The second Lukas is out, You. Are. Mine.”

Eric’s fangs snapped down as a wide devious smile spread across his face.  To think that Sookie was concerned that he might be bored, Eric wanted to laugh.  Never in a millions years, he thought.

 

OoOoO

Eric carried a sleeping Lukas down to the pool where everyone was meeting. Lukas had been too excited for much of the day and hadn’t taken a nap. Instead, he buzzed around from the moment he woke until the car took off taking them to their hotel. Throughout the entire plane ride their son sat at his window peering out watching below for their destination. He might have proclaimed more than once that flying with his Papa was more fun then a stinky old airplane. Eric had to agree unfortunately even being a thousand-year-old vampire he did have some limitations. One being that he couldn’t fly his family and all their luggage from Norway to Italy. He also didn’t think Lukas would enjoy how fast they’d have to fly to get to their destination before sun up. Although his son loved the weather of his Scandinavia homes, he didn’t like how much his mother made him bundle up when he went outside and Eric was sure his bonded would make then both unmovable if they ever did try to attempt such a flight. Eric had no intention of making such a flight unless it was an emergency and in the few years since they had moved to Sweden they hadn’t had any problems or trouble.

Sookie had been quite surprised by how welcomed their relationship was even though Eric had explained that almost all European countries were open-minded and had accepted vampires far better than in the United States. No one judged her decision to be with a vampire or that Lukas’s father was of the undead variety. Instead, they were treated like any other couple.

Once they reached the group Pam clapped her hands with giddy anticipation of getting her hands on Lukas. The moment she saw that he was sleeping, she visibly deflated and much to everyone’s enjoyment pouted. It had been too long since she last saw her little brother and he had grown quite a bit since she last saw him months ago.

No one was more surprised than Pam at how quickly she fell under the spell that Lukas seemed to cast upon everyone that met him. He was sweet and lovable from the moment she met him and he smelled even better then his mother and that was saying something. Lukas’s smell wasn’t so inviting that a vampire wanted to drain him. He smelled of sunshine, wheat and honey just like Sookie, but he also had a strange but alluring masculine smell of sandalwood.

Pam couldn’t wait until Lukas was older and she could have him all to herself for long periods of time.

“Why is he asleep? Didn’t Lukas know that he was coming to see me?” Pam asked with annoyance.

“Yes, he did and, therefore, was too excited to sleep. He was a bundle of energy all day and finally succumbed to sleep on the way here from the airport,” Sookie explained. She was exhausted from very little sleep. Both Eric and Sookie had expected their son to sleep a good eight to ten hours for him to wake up after only a little more than four.

Even though he was sleeping, Pam extricated the sleeping bundle from his father’s arms and paced his little head against her shoulder as she swayed back and forth. Sookie smiled at the sight before her even though she'd need to keep an eye on them. Pam wasn’t above waking Lukas even though he’d be sleepy and cranky.

As the rest of the wedding party joined them, Eric pulled Sookie to his front and wrapped his arms around her waist. Immediately he felt his wife relax and sink into his embrace.

Never before meeting Sookie did Eric ever think he’d be happy with a family let alone want one but as he looked at his vampire children who were both speaking quietly to one another about how much Lukas had grown since they last saw him to Sookie’s brother with his wife and now five kids, all of them girls too, over to the man Willa would be marrying in just a couple of nights and his large Italian family. They weren’t close, but Eric would do just about anything to protect them if the need ever rose.

Once everyone said their Hello’s and kissed and hugged, they moved over to an area of couches and chairs that had been set by the pool. It was a little cool for the humans so there were also heat lamps scattered around the area. Sookie curled up against Eric as she chatted with Mauricio’s two sisters who were sitting across from them. Slowly their conversation started to ebb as others wanted to talk and plan what they’d do tomorrow during the day. Sookie stayed quiet as she listened and let the heat from the lamp behind her lull her into state of being almost asleep but able to hear the chatter around her and feel herself slip more and more into the comforting embrace of her husband.

The next thing Sookie knew, she was in bed with her head resting on Eric’s silent chest with one arm wrapped around her as he read. Yawning she angled her head to look at his face before she spoke.

“I'm sorry I fell asleep,” she said, yawning again.

Dipping to give his wife a kiss, Eric placed his book beside him. “If I could have gone to sleep I would have,” he finally said with a chuckle. “It was all about the wedding until Pam woke up Lukas. Then it was all about him. He ate it up and showed off every trick he could think of and even tried some new things albeit unsuccessfully. Of course everyone cheered. He was sad when all the humans retired to go to sleep.”

“He didn’t call them humans did he?” Sookie asked.

Eric gave her a knowing look before turning to rest on his side and wrap his arms around Sookie, wedged one of his muscular thighs in between her legs, and nuzzled her neck.

“No one heard him. He waited until we were back here and he was ready for bed. Lukas doesn’t understand that most humans don’t stay up most of the night,” he replied against her ear.

“Most four-year-old boys don’t have a daddy who’s a vampire or one that’s as big of a pushover as you are,” Sookie said, ending on a giggle as Eric nipped her neck and dipped one of his cool large hands under her shirt and lightly caressed her back.

Bringing his head up to look Sookie in the eye, Eric replied. “You are just as big of a pushover as I am if not more.”

“How could I not? His eyes are just as sweet as yours and don’t act like you haven’t tried to influence me with those puppy dog eyes of yours.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about. I can assure you that there’s nothing sweet about me,” Eric huskily responded as he ground his hips against her soft flesh.

“Keep telling yourself that buddy,” Sookie tried to say with annoyance but it instead came out as a whisper as her hands moved across his broad back.

“Let me show you how not sweet I can be in the little time we have left before sun up,” he came back with while riding Sookie of her clothing.

OoOoO

“Mommy, why are you crying,” Lukas asked barely above a whisper as he watched tears stream down his mother’s face. He couldn’t understand why she’d be crying when she was also smiling.  Plus, his Papa wasn’t at all upset that she was crying and normally if his mother cried his Papa did anything and everything to make her stop. Instead, he was watching his sister with a content look on his face while holding his mother’s hand.

“I’m happy baby,” she replied quietly, but at seeing the still puzzled look on his face, she tried to clarify.  “It makes me happy to see the people who I care about find someone to love and it reminds me of the night I married your father.  It was the second best night of my life.”

“What was the best night?” Lukas asked.

“The night you were born,” she said with an even bigger smile before leaning over and kissing him on the forehead.

His mother’s tears stopped, but the smile never left her face as they sat and continued to watch his sister marry Mauricio. He even thought he saw his Papa smile when the officiant said it was time to kiss the bride and Willa threw her arms around her new husband.  Once the ceremony was over his mom looked down at him before pulling him onto her lap and hugging him close.

“What did you think?” she asked.

“Mommy, I hear wedding people,” Lukas thought toward his mother.

Everyone’s eyes turned as Sookie burst out laughing. This was her life. Her happily ever after.

 

~ The End ~

 

 


End file.
